How To Thaw A Frozen Heart
by Wixeron
Summary: Kings, Princes, Dukes and wanna-be-kings all vied to 'thaw' the now famous Snow Queen's heart with 'love' and win her hand in marriage. Elsa didn't think much of them until the enigmatic Viking King from the Kingdom of Berk is included in her list of suitors. And now, she never thought that she would be the one trying to 'thaw' his heart so that he can love again.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **Yeaaa…the idea for this story originally isn't for HTTYD but rather Frozen. Been obsessing about Frozen when the trailer for HTTYD2 comes out and then I got obsessed about it to. So yay! Go figure?

I'm not very good with timelines but I'm pretty sure that the HTTYD's timeline doesn't match with Frozen's and I'm preeeeety sure they are very very far apart (HTTYD maybe in the 8th century and Frozen in 18th? That is so very far apart).

But! The power of fanfic allows you to do as you please! Muahahaha!

So, in this story, the both HTTYD and Frozen are in the same timeline, also, Hiccup is 22 and the events of the second movie has come to pass (since the movie isn't out, I have to make my own version of why and what happen). Oh and Elsa is 23.

**Disclaimer: **I wish and dream I own both materials but sadly I don't. I wanna cry now.

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**Prologue**** - The Proposal**

The Queen of Arendelle or as she was famously known, the Snow Queen Elsa sighed as she leaned back into her chair. Being a leader was never easy, especially as the ruler of a kingdom as you always have to make decisions that are often hard to make.

And right now, Elsa had quite a decision to make.

You see, being a single ruler without an heir to the throne led to succession problems and that was never a good thing for a kingdom. Sure if anything happens to her, the next in line for the throne would be Anna, her younger sister and Princess of Arendelle. But what happens if anything were to happen to Anna?

Anna.

Elsa smiled at the thought of her sister's name. Her sister was basically behind almost everything that happened in her life when she thought about it. The good and of course the bad things as well. But she did not regret it and wouldn't trade anything in the world for what had happen to them.

Elsa took a cup of hot chocolate from her work desk and took a sip of it, enjoying the wonderful taste of chocolate in her mouth. She sighed in contentment and went back to her thoughts, to Anna again.

Despite everything that had happened, Elsa and Anna was still royalty and have responsibility to their kingdom. Anna was very lucky that she met her true love (she hope it was true after 'that' incident). Even luckier that Elsa approves and supports Anna's relationship with Kristoff and allows for their marriage (even though they haven't considered it yet). If Elsa wasn't the queen, their relationship might not happen due to Kristoff's status as a commoner.

But, Elsa was very grateful that everything that happened in her life had happen the way it is. If not, Anna might have to be married to a foreign prince or duke and moved out of Arendelle, leaving Elsa alone or worse, married to someone that does not love her. It almost happened before. But now, she doesn't need to move out of Arendell and could stay with her.

Now, all Anna had to do is marry Kristoff, make some babies and Arendelle's succession problem will be solved! Right?

Not really.

You see, being a queen who also was single was not easy. This was because a single queen was very enticing to men, especially men of power. It was the chance for a prince, duke or other what not to be king. And who wouldn't want to be king? And not to mention that even kings would take this chance for more power and land grabbing.

And thus she received lots and lots of marriage proposal disguised as alliance treaty of sorts. It was surprising really. She never thought that men would desire her since she's a...freak. Of course, her own people never called her as such since they knew and understand. But what about those that don't? Hell, if she wasn't the queen, she was sure that there would be witch-hunters coming for her head.

It showed that well, with power and position, you might be able to get away with almost everything. It showed that for power, men would do anything, even braving a life with the Snow Queen.

Well, at least no kingdom declared war on her yet because of her power.

If anything, her status as the Snow Queen has made her and her kingdom more famous than before.

Still, she couldn't just flat out refuse her suitors in fear of offending them and affecting future relationship with her kingdom.

Although a part of her wanted to refuse all of them as she wanted to experience love and especially wedding to a person of her own choosing. Well, technically, if she chose a suitor it would be a wedding of her own choice, but what about love?

She wanted love like Anna had at least.

Sometimes she envied her sister. Anna doesn't need to lead Arendelle as Elsa was there to do it. She doesn't have to worry who she would have to be married to as Elsa had taken care of that as well (Elsa could have just ignore her relationship with Kristoff and marry Anna to a foreign prince, but she wasn't that heartless). She could enjoy the perks of royalty without doing much and that was quite heavenly if Elsa had anything to say in the matter. But as long as her sister was happy, she didn't mind.

She doubted that she can love any of those suitors. It wasn't that she's a pessimist but because of her status and power, it wasn't easy for her to love, especially after what she had been through.

Meanwhile, her queenly part of her told her that choosing a royal suitor would be wonderful for the future of her kingdom. Another part of her told her that she can rule well without the help of a man, thank you very much.

But still, it would be nice to have someone to help her, to share everything she had and to want her not because of her kingdom or power but because of herself.

Elsa sighed again and put down her cup. She then picked up the list of suitors that are available for her to choose from.

The list of suitors was quite long and she felt a little giddy at being desired, even though for different reasons. Although according to Anna, she wasn't lacking in the beauty department (she was told that Anna envied her exotic and regal beauty). She examined each name and their association carefully, thinking of where each suitor comes from and what advantage that Arendelle could gain from it, that is, if she were to choose a suitor.

Elsa raised an eyebrow when she reached a name. The name was Prince Dieter of the _Southern Isles, t_he very same place where 'that' guy came from. Elsa then searched for the official letter from the Southern Isles and was about to read it when the door burst open and Anna came bounding in at her older sister.

"Elsa! Do you wanna build a snowman?" Anna asked and Elsa smiled.

"I want to, but maybe a bit later? I'm going through something for a bit," Elsa replied and Anna pouted for a moment before her face brightened again.

"What are you doing then?" Anna asked and Elsa was tempted to brush her off and say that it doesn't concern her. But then, it wouldn't be fair to her sister as it was the matter of _kingdom _and they promised not to keep secrets or hold anything from each other anymore.

"Well, you know that there are a number of…parties 'interested' at me, correct?" Elsa said and Anna only nodded in reply. "Well, it seems that one of the parties is from the Southern Isles,"

Anna gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "No way! The nerve of them! Are they trying to insult us? That good for no-"

"Anna," Elsa cut her sister short and began to skim the letter. "They're saying that what 'that person' did was not known to them and they will see to it that he will be sufficiently punished. They want to mend the relationship with our kingdom,"

"Well, mending relationships doesn't always need for marriages between the two kingdoms! They could do just as well by giving compensation!" Anna finished with a huff and her hands on her hips.

Elsa smiled at this. "That is true. But you can't blame them for being an opportunistic,"

Anna eyed her sister suspiciously, "Sooo, please don't tell me you're considering the Southern Isles as your possible suitor…"

Elsa lightly laughed at this. "Why not? At least it would spite 'that person',"

Anna smiled at this. "Well, that's true. Sooo," Anna moved closer to her sister and placed her hands on the chair's arms. "Do any of the suitors interest you?"

Elsa smiled and sighed at this. "All of the suitors' personal biography looks very very interesting. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised by that,"

"Buuut?" Anna continued.

"Until I've meet them in person I cannot decide then. You can't judge a book by its cover after all, isn't that right, dearest?" Elsa finished with a sly smile.

Anna withdrew and rubbed her arms together and looked away with a sheepish look. "Eheheh. Well to be fair, you've met most of them,"

Just then the Kai, the head servant of the castle appeared at the door and knocked at the open door to announce his arrival. He looked worried. "Excuse me, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, I have something that requires Your Highness's attention,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this. "What is it?"

"You received another marriage proposal…from the Vikings of the Viking Kingdom of Berk," Kai said and Anna gasped.

"Vikings? Aren't they savages? Brutes? I heard that they pillage villages and burn them and kidnap and ra-" Anna said but was cut short by Elsa.

"_Thank you, _Anna," Elsa said and glared at her sister for a moment before returning her attention to Kai. It seems that Kai wasn't finished yet.

"There is more, Your Highness, the Berk Vikings has sent their emissaries and they are awaiting your highness's presence to deliver the marriage proposal personally," Kai finished and Anna gasped again.

Elsa was shocked for a moment before gaining her composure. "Thank you Kai, please tell the emissaries that I will be there shortly,"

Kai nodded and gave a curt bow before taking his leave.

Elsa sighed again. Although she never encountered Vikings personally, the Kingdom of Arendelle and the rest of the world had their fair share of encounters with them. Most of it were not well. The Vikings were not unified but rather splintered into clans or tribes. Most of those tribes were as Anna said, savages and brutes, preferring to invade, raid and pillage villages and settlements as well as attacking ships. Fortunately, some were not as 'brutal' as they preferred to trade to get what they want rather than using violence.

Unfortunately for them, as the tribes were not very big, they were often…annihilated by the larger countries and kingdom for their transgressions. Because of this, Viking activities around large kingdom's and continent were rare for more than three decades.

But then, Elsa remembered something very interesting.

"Viking Kingdom?" Elsa said to herself and Anna turned to look at her. "Have the Viking tribes united under a single banner?"

This wasn't going very well for Arendelle, Elsa mused. This was because the Vikings' origin was quite close to Arendelle. Should they choose to invade…

Elsa looked at the list of suitors again. Suddenly, those names look very interesting to her.

**Meanwhile, an hour ago…**

Ever since the Eternal Winter of Arendelle two years ago and Elsa's powers were revealed and accepted, there was no need for further isolation. Thus, Arendelle has opened its ports for trading with other kingdoms. Because of this, it wasn't weird to see people of different cultures at Arendelle's port.

However, today, Arendelle would see her weirdest visitors yet, because the visitors were Vikings. The Vikings were twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut who were the assigned the task as Kingdom of Berk's emissaries.

Which was weird because if you knew the twins from when they were little, you wouldn't trust them with such an important job at all. The twins, ever since they were small were known for their tendency to fight with each other, cause havocs and more importantly, stupid.

But that was when they were little, and soon they grew up and the weight of responsibility as well as the numerous events they had in their lives matured them. Added with the fact that Hiccup revamped the whole Viking's system of education (and personally taught them himself), and suddenly, the twins weren't so stupid any more.

If anything, they became even more dangerous than ever before. Back then, they would fight each other for the most trivial of things. But now, they would plan with each other and two heads is better than one after all.

Because of this, they were one of Hiccup's most trusted when it comes to handle things that require finesse.

That and Fishlegs wasn't very good with people as he was with statistics and Snoutlout considered being an emissary as 'lame'.

"Geez, look at 'em sis. It's like they haven't seen a Viking before," Tuffnut said while eating an apple.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes at his brother. "Of course they haven't. Vikings rarely set foot here. Speaking of which, _we _shouldn't be here either,"

Usually, their job was as emissary to other smaller states or villages within the Kingdom of Berk. To be honest, they never interacted with other kingdoms before this.

Tuffnut grinned at this and apple juice leaked from the left side of his mouth. "I know! We're doing this behind his back! It's like when we were little, wreaking havoc and stuff,"

Ruffnut groaned. "Riiight, back then our damage was only to our people, Tuffnut. But here, we mess up and the whole kingdom would pay for it,"

Tuffnut wiped the apple juice from his mouth before continuing. "I know, I know, but come on, we can't isolate ourselves for ever. Hiccup thinks that it is for the best to protect the dragons but for how long? Besides, have you seen the stuff this kingdom has? They got silk! I'm sure Gobber wouldn't mind!"

Tuffnut then took out a parcel of purple silk and watched it with interest. "Phew! The things that we have to do to get this. It's better be worth it to at least bring Gobber to our side,"

"I'm sure Gobber will side with us. He sees more logic and reason than Hiccup does lately anyway," Ruffnut replied.

"I know, right! Geez, what happened to the old super-trusting Hiccup we know? Back then, any stranger with good intention – well at least when they appear to and Hiccup wouldn't hesitate to teach them about dragons! Now, he's like super paranoid and stuff," Tuffnut said and stored the parcel away.

"You can't blame him. We grow up, reality kicks in and a lot has happened. Including…Astrid," Ruffnut said and suddenly, the wares on the side of the road seem more interesting.

Tuffnut sighed and threw his finished apple in a trash basket nearby. "I know, it's been years already and a lot of people are worried. Even his father,"

"Yeah. I know it sounds harsh especially to Astrid but I wish he would move on! He's all mopey and shit. Do you know he evaded me for a long time because I reminded him of Astrid?" Ruffnut said and Tuffnut snorted.

"Yeah, it was ridiculous. It's as if you're his ex or something. Still, this is our chance! It will be good for our kingdom and Hiccup!" Tuffnut said with a grin.

"Riiight," Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "By trying to play matchmaker with him and the _Snow Queen_ of all people?"

"Hey, don't look at me. Hiccup doesn't show any interest at the other Viking girls ever since Astrid. And Hiccup is always weird, so I figure his taste would be weird too. Maybe he'll like the Snow Queen?" Tuffnut replied.

"But she resembles Astrid too much!" Ruffnut said.

"What? Pffft! No she doesn't! The Snow Queen is like, the opposite of Astrid," Tuffnut replied.

"Yeah right, say that to Hiccup when he sees her. Well, I guess that since we've come this far, it's going to be a waste if we give up now. So are we gonna do this or not?" Ruffnut said and crossed her arms.

"Hell yeah! Hiccup's not the only that can come up with plans!" Tuffnut said with a sly grin.

"Yeah! Especially, crazy convoluted plans!" Ruffnut replied with her own sly grin.

"Let's go!" They both said and rammed each other's head, resulting with a loud 'thunk!' sound that attracted everyone's attention.

"Arrgh! Oh, that feels awesome!" Tuffnut said and they both heads towards the castle.

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**Author's Note: **So, this chapter hints a bit at the world building I have in mind for the HTTYD's side. A lot of things happened to Hiccup and the gang, especially to Astrid. What exactly happened to Hiccup and Astrid I wonder?

Who knows!

Read and Review!


	2. Chapter 1: A Viking's Tale

**Author's Note: **Hello readers! Second chapter is here. To tell you the truth, this chapter was originally a part of the first chapter but it became too long so I have to cut it into different chapters.

To reader **JanessaVR: **Thanks for reviewing! Now for your review, what you've point out is true and I've also thought about it before writing this story. To tell you the truth, I'm not an expert in the exact mechanics of the monarchy system but I try to write it to my best understanding. So your future input will definitely be useful.

Anyway, here's my explanation of what Elsa was considering.

1) While it's true that there is a difference between a Prince Consort and a King, to most men, becoming a Prince Consort is close enough to being a King. After all, the treatment and privilege received is almost the same. A man that doesn't care about running a kingdom would be content with the title and Elsa wouldn't want that kind of man.

About the ruling power, while it is true that Elsa can limit the power of the Prince Consort, there are many ways for the Prince Consort to gain power. The first is that he can use social engineering to get what he wants (such as suggestions or subtle manipulations and stuff). The second is even worse…he can have the queen removed entirely so that he will have absolute power.

This was what Hans tried to achieve in the movie. He could be less evil by sparing Anna and keep her in the dark but then he wouldn't have total power and would have to resort to manipulations to get what he want instead of having direct control.

This is what Elsa feared in case she chooses the wrong suitor. She wasn't afraid of the Prince Consort having ruling power or not, she was afraid if he tries to get it and the method he would use to do it.

2) It's true that a political marriage alliance is usually between prince and princess, and it would be seriously hard if it is done between the ruling monarch instead. This of course will be a plot point in the story as both Hiccup and Elsa will realize this fact.

Elsa doesn't want to sacrifice her sister's happiness and so wouldn't marry her to a foreign prince or king and Hiccup knew that he couldn't leave his throne, and it would be easier if he were to choose someone from his kingdom instead. But for his and Elsa's happiness, would he do it?

Alright, on to the story!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own HTTYD or Frozen. They both belong to Disney and Dreamworks.

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**Chapter 2 - A Viking's Tale**

"Introducing, Emissary Tuffnut and Ruffnut from the Viking Kingdom of Berk!" Kai announced and the twins bowed courtly before the Snow Queen in Arendelle's court. Elsa was dressed in her Snow Queen attire as Anna called it instead of her normal official attire. She didn't want to wear it in front of foreign officials but Anna can be very persuasive.

"Woah! The rumors were true! She is a beauty!" Tuffnut whispered while they were still bowing.

"Yeah, if Hiccup still refuses her, I'm gonna punch him!" Ruffnut replied.

"And I would go for her!"

"And you too!"

The twins continued to bow for a while and Elsa raised an eyebrow at this. Anna, who was at her side could only glance at her sister.

'How long are they going to bow? Is this their custom? Should I do something? And what strange names, Tuffnut and Ruffnut?' thought Elsa.

The twins then straightened and coughed. "Ahem, greetings o' fair and beautiful Queen of Arendelle! We are from the glorious Viking Kingdom of Berk! And we wish to build a friendly and hopefully, permanent relationship with the fair Kingdom of Arendelle!" Ruffnut said.

Tuffnut then took out a round metal shield with Berk's crest and on top of the shield is a sword, book and the official letter that states the intent for the marriage proposal. Tuffnut then moved forward and presented the items to Elsa.

Elsa took it and thanked Tuffnut before he resumed his position at Ruffnut's side. Elsa took the letter first and began to read it before Ruffnut spoke.

"If there is anything that Your Highness wish to know, you can just ask," Ruffnut said and Elsa gave the letter to Kai.

"Well, yes and I hope you won't mind answering them?" Elsa said and Tuffnut grinned.

"Not at all," Tuffnut said with a grin and his sister elbowed him.

"Manners," Ruffnut whispered.

Elsa raised an eyebrow but decided to continue. "Well, for starters, I rarely heard of the Viking Kingdom of Berk and especially about your King…" Elsa's eyebrow was raised again at the name of the Viking King.

"King Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third!" Tuffnut said proudly and Anna let out a snicker before she managed to restrain herself. Elsa glared at her and Anna managed a meek apology at the Viking representatives.

"Naw, to be honest, we Vikings have a terrible naming sense, now that we think about it" Tuffnut said and waved his arm at Anna. Ruffnut rolled her eyes at Tuffnut's casual way of speaking. "The name Hiccup isn't the worst; in fact, it sounds much better when compared to Fishlegs,"

At this Anna laughed out loud and Elsa herself chuckled before regaining herself. "Fish-fishlegs? Wha-why?"

Elsa glared at her sister again and sent a wave of chill down her spine and Anna let out a small 'eep!' and apologized again.

"Well, those names was supposed to be scary to the trolls and gnomes," Ruffnut shrugged and gave up on the notion of formal talk.

Elsa, Anna and Kristoff who was among the other officials in court, looked at each other at the mention of trolls.

"I see. Regardless, you must forgive my court for our lack of knowledge on your kingdom," Elsa said, hoping to find out more about the Viking Kingdom.

"Well, that…" Tuffnut began. "It's not surprising if you don't know, the Viking Kingdom is still young,"

"And chose to isolate itself," Ruffnut whispered to herself.

"Young?" Elsa asked.

"U-huh," Tuffnut nodded. Arendelle's officials were kind of taken aback by the twin's casual way of speaking to their ruler, but in their mind, it was expected from the 'savages'. Elsa, meanwhile, didn't mind and was more interested in knowing more about the Viking Kingdom than worrying about etiquette for the moment.

"You see, the Viking Kingdom of Berk was only established a year ago," Ruffnut said and one of the Arendelle's officials smirked at this. The kingdom was too young and they hope to gain alliance with one of the oldest kingdom in the region?

"I see," Elsa said. "But, the last time I heard about the Vikings, there weren't anything bigger than tribes and clans. To think that the Vikings were finally unified,"

"Tell me about it. We Vikings are very stubborn," Tuffnut said and Ruffnut continued. "We have stubbornness issues. It wasn't easy getting them all under one banner,"

Elsa eyed the twin Vikings for a moment. They didn't tell her how exactly they unify the Vikings, but she has the impression that a lot of force was used. This was worrying. What would stop them if she refused the Vikings offer? Would they come and use force on Arendelle too?

"It must have taken a great person to be able to unite such…stubborn people," Elsa said, trying to find out more about their leader.

"Weeeell," the twins turned to look at each other. "When you put it that way, yeah he is great if compared to other Vikings," Ruffnut said.

"Come to think about it, we kind of took his achievements for granted, huh?" Ruffnut said while rubbing her chin.

"Well, he is weird, after all," Tuffnut shrugged.

Elsa's eyebrow was raised again. How many times have she done that today, she wondered. 'What a strange group of people. How could they describe their leader as such in front of other leaders?'

"Well, I'm afraid I have to know more about King Hiccup," Elsa said and glared at her sister, warning her not to laugh, in which Anna gave her an innocent look. "if I were to accept his proposal,"

"Eheheh," Tuffnut chuckled. "And that is why we gave you that book, Your Highness,"

Elsa turned her attention to the book that she received along with the shield and sword. The shield and sword seemed…plain when compared to ceremonial swords that she was accustomed to. Regardless, she handed the shield and sword to Kai and took the book.

Anna took this chance to scoot closer to her sister to observe the book. Elsa didn't stop her and instead smiled.

On the cover of the book was the crest of a…dragon? It was written in a language that she didn't understand. Elsa turn the page of the book and to her surprise, the book wasn't filled with texts like she was used too, but rather, it was more of an illustration book much like a children's fairy tale book.

Tuffnut cleared his throat and drew Elsa's attention away from the book.

"We are going to tell you the story about our GREAT king! The story of King Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the very First King of the Viking Kingdom of Berk!" Tuffnut began. "Hear hear!"

Elsa raised her eyebrow again. During her reign as Queen of Arendelle, she had her fair share of suitors coming to declare their intent. Of course, some suitors came personally and…bragged about their achievements. Some of course sent their representatives like what the Viking were doing and had them told of the suitor's achievements instead.

The representatives were more…restrained of course. The Vikings method was…refreshing to say the least.

'This should be interesting,' Elsa thought.

"The story begins on the Isle of Berk, 8 years ago before the Viking Kingdom of Berk was established. It's twelve days north of hopeless and few degrees south of freezing to death and it is located solidly on the meridian of misery," Tuffnut said.

Elsa and Anna exchanged looks. "Uuhhh…"Anna said slowly to her sister.

"It is our village and in a word, sturdy and it's been there for seven generations-"

"I think more," Ruffnut cut in.

"-but, every single building is new," Tuffnut ignored her. "Oh and turn the pages of the book,"

'The buildings are new? Even though they have been there for a long time?' Elsa wondered and she found the first page which showed what supposed to be the village of Berk. The colored illustration was very well done in her opinion.

"We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunset. The only problem was the pests. You see other places have mice or mosquitoes..." Tuffnut continued.

"But we have DRAGONS!" Ruffnut said and everyone gave them weird looks. Ruffnut then made a motion with her finger which signaled for Elsa to turn the page and Elsa complied. Her officials were quite angry at the Vikings giving order to their Queen but couldn't do anything without their Queen's consent.

Elsa turned to the next page and found the village of Berk was now under siege by dragons and the buildings were on fire.

"Ah, so that is why the houses are new," Elsa said with a smile.

Anna however, was astonished that was what Elsa was paying attention too. "Umm, Excuse me, dragons? But they don't exist…"

"Oh so you're calling us liars then?" Ruffnut crossed her arms and Elsa glared at Anna which caused her to shrink to a little.

"Sorry…" Anna meekly replied. Elsa was about to say something when Ruffnut smiled and waved at her.

"Naw! Don't worry, we expect that much from you guys," Ruffnut said. "But yeah, they do exist, it's just that for some reason, most of them live where the Viking Kingdom is located.

"I see…" Anna replied.

"Well, there are other dragons living in other parts of the world. It's just that they're elusive, and hunted down to extinction," Ruffnut continued. "So they became legends and myth. Like for example, the Chinese Dragon which resembled an overgrown snake more than a lizard,"

"Or the Mountain Dragons living in the western parts of the world. Didn't end well for the dragons, poor thing," Tuffnut shook his head.

"I see. Please continue with the story, I would like to know more," Elsa said. 'Why would they mention dragons? It seems that it would be important…' Although Elsa doubted about the existence of dragons, she didn't deny it completely like most people would. Besides, if trolls and magic can exist, so can dragons.

"Alright!" Tuffnut began again. "Now you see, dragons have become a part of our lives for so long that it was ingrained in every Viking to slay the beast!"

Ruffnut signaled for Elsa to turn and she did. The page shows the battle between the Vikings and the dragons. The Vikings depicted were rather…cute. It was as if the book really was made for children.

"But! Hiccup was a rather…strange Viking," Tuffnut said. "Where other Vikings would say "Kill the dragons!", he would say "Train the dragons!". And that was what he set out to do,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this.

"Now you see, there exists many varieties of dragons. There are dragons that set themselves on fire! Dragons that eat rocks and spew lava!" Tuffnut continued in such a way that it was as if he was telling a horror story.

Well, it worked on Anna. She was shrinking closer to Elsa with every dragon mentioned. Ruffnut signaled and Elsa turned the page to see many varieties of dragons and most of them look very menacing.

"Dragons that have rotating mouth and teeth that can eat through the earth and burrows underground! Dragons with two heads! Dragons that can turn invisible and spit melting acid! Dragons that can spit boiling water!" Tuffnut said Ruffnut rolled her eyes and elbowed her brother.

Tuffnut got the hint and continued with his tale. "Well, Hiccup doesn't want to train any of the dragons mentioned, he wanted to train the rarest, and most dangerous of all dragons. The _Night Fury…" _Tuffnut dragged the name for emphasis.

"Night Fury?" Anna said meekly. Ruffnut signaled and Elsa turned to see an illustration of the night sky but there was a silhouette of a dragon.

"Oh yes! The Night Fury! Before Hiccup, there was never a sighting of it and nobody has ever killed one! And it only attacks during the dark. It was the fastest dragon ever recorded and the smartest too," Tuffnut said. "When it attacks, there will be a menacing sound…"

Tuffnut then enacted the sound a Night Fury makes before a high speed attack. "And then all you see is purple bolt of fire and lightning and BOOM!" Ruffnut signaled again and this time, it shows the devastation of a single bolt from the Night Fury.

Anna jumped with an 'eep' and to be honest, Elsa jumped a little too.

"And it never misses," Tuffnut said slowly.

"Now you might think, how can it compare to other dragons? Well, you see, the reaction when seeing a dragon is "Kill on Sight," but when facing a Night Fury? "Never engage this dragon. Your only chance is to hide and pray that it does not find you,"" Tuffnut resumed the tale.

"For it is the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself," Ruffnut continued in a similar scary voice and Anna squeaked again.

"And Hiccup decided to…train the Night Fury?" Elsa asked and the twins nodded.

"Yup. So knowing that he couldn't catch one on ground he made a device that can shoot a snare to capture the dragon!" Tuffnut said and Ruffnut signaled. Elsa turned and the illustration showed a…

'A boy?' Elsa wondered. 'Are they saying that Hiccup managed to train one of the most dangerous dragons in existence when he was just a boy? And that he created the device?'

Well, to be honest, her other suitors have bragged of their achievements of hunting animals when they were young. But…a dragon? And what's more, he didn't kill it, but train it. If the story was true, then it would be a man with –pardon her language- balls of steel to do so.

"He then managed to capture the beast, and confronted it," Tuffnut continued and Elsa turned the page a beat faster than Ruffnut's signal.

The illustration showed the trapped Night Fury, its black body tied with ropes and Hiccup standing near the dragon. Strangely enough, the illustration of Hiccup only showed his back and not his face and front.

"Hiccup then freed the beast and though it wasn't easy, he managed to gain the beast's trust and tame it!" Tuffnut said and Elsa turned the page. The page has many illustrations on it. The first showed Hiccup (only his back again…) holding out a hand towards the Night Fury.

For one of the most dangerous dragons known to mankind, the Night Fury looked…cute with its huge green eyes and fins around its face.

"Hiccup named the beast…_Toothless," _Elsa heard Tuffnut said as her eyes landed on the image of Toothless…grinning? Smiling? And as the name suggests, it was toothless.

'The great and fearsome beast is without teeth?' Elsa smiled.

Anna chuckled at the name. "But, do not let the name fool you! For the beast is able retract its teeth much like a snake!" Tuffnut said Anna let out a small 'oh'.

"Anyway, Hiccup managed to train the dragon well enough to ride it and fly!" Tuffnut said and by this time Ruffnut stopped giving Elsa the signal as she knew enough when to turn the pages.

The illustration showed Hiccup riding the dragon and flying among the night sky. Again, the illustration didn't show his face and by this time Elsa knew that the book intended to make Hiccup as mysteriously as it can.

"And then, through the interaction with the dragon, Hiccup learned many great things about them," Tuffnut said and Elsa turn the page and saw illustrations of Hiccup doing various things with Toothless such as playing in a tall grass, shining a light on the ground and scratching it in various places.

"He also learned of the terrible truth," Tuffnut said and Elsa turned again. The illustration showed various dragons converging to a place, and Toothless, along with Hiccup was among the dragons.

"It turns out that the reason why the dragons attacked the Vikings was because they have to bring food to their queen," Elsa heard Tuffnut narrating the story and turn to the next page showing the dragons dumping food down into a massive mouth.

"Having learned of the truth, Hiccup went back to his father, Stoic The Vast who was the chief of the village. Hiccup said that it would be impossible for them to take on the queen without the support of the dragons. But alas, his father did not believe in the cooperation with dragons and left towards the island with his men to kill the queen," Tuffnut narrated and Elsa turned the page showing Hiccup arguing with his father. Another illustration then showed his father along with his men heading towards the island where the queen is located.

"Like we said, stubbornness issues," Ruffnut shrugged.

"Anyway, when they reached the island and lure out the queen…" Tuffnut said and Elsa turned the page. "The RED DEATH APPEARS!"

Anna was startled but Elsa's attention was to the illustration of the dragon queen or the Red Death emerging from its mountain lair. The illustration did not fail to express the beast's size and might, showing in scale the size of the Vikings near the dragon queen.

"The dragon queen was the size of a mountain and it was the largest dragon ever known to the Vikings. It has many eyes and its mouth was so huge it could crush a ship easily! And it can spit a jet flame…"

Elsa turned and saw the Red Death spitting out fire at the Viking's ships. "…that can project for half a mile long!"

Anna gasped at this.

"Fortunately, Hiccup managed to teach his friends on how to tame dragons. They then flew towards where the battle was to help their Viking brethren," Elsa turned the page and showed Hiccup along with four more Vikings with their dragons engaging the dragon queen.

"Although their efforts were commendable, the dragon queen could not be taken down so easily," Elsa turned to the next illustration, showing the dragon queen weathering their attacks with ease.

"Hiccup then engaged the dragon in a one on one duel, in the sky," the next illustration showed Hiccup and Toothless flying to the sky with the Red Death following behind it. The other illustration then showed the duo attacking the queen from the cover of the clouds and the queen retaliated with long stream of fire around the clouds.

"And then, in a brilliant move, he exploited the queen's weakness!" Tuffnut said. Elsa turned and saw Hiccup and Toothless diving to the ground followed by the queen. The queen was about to shoot its breath of fire when Toothless shot a purple ball of fire and lightning into its mouth first. The result was that the queen's innards were set on fire as it dived towards the ground.

Hiccup and Toothless pulled back into the air at the last second while the queen plummets towards the ground, resulting in a large explosion of fire.

"But, victory costs and Hiccup paid the price," Tuffnut said sadly and Elsa turned and saw Hiccup and Toothless desperately trying to outmaneuver the destroyed remains of the queen but they were hit by its large clubbed tail.

Hiccup fell first and Toothless the dragon desperately tried to save its master before the flames consumed both of them. The next image showed Toothless on the ground and its wing covering its master. Hiccup's left leg was...

"Oh," Anna said softly and Elsa turned the page quickly.

"But, he survived, and because the queen was defeated, the dragons no longer have the need to attack Berg again. Thanks to his effort, the Vikings and Dragons are able to live together," Tuffnut said.

The illustration showed Hiccup waking up to his village, filled with Vikings and dragons together.

"And that's the end of the first part!" Tuffnut finished and Elsa found out that there was no more to the book.

"First part?" Elsa said as she closed the book.

"Well yeah, because that's one of the most interesting part of the history of the Viking Kingdom," Tuffnut said.

"The rest is kinda…not so much. You know, training the dragons, meet new dragons and stuff," Ruffnut added. "Well, at least until the Dragon-Viking War and the Viking Unification Campaign. But going into detail into those two will take too much time,"

"I see..." Elsa said.

"So we're giving a summary instead!" Ruffnut continued. "The Dragon-Viking War is about Drago Bludvist, a dragon hunter. This guy made Hiccup realize that not all Vikings share his view about the dragons. I mean, before the Viking Kingdom, only Berk was friendly with the dragons. The other Vikings still kill dragons and got killed by them. Then we have guys like Alvin the Treacherous that wanted to use the dragons for evil purposes and other guys like that crazy Dagur,"

"Hiccup decided to share his views of the dragons to the rest of the Vikings. And since we have stubbornness issues, he has to hammer his point home sometimes. Thus, the Unification Campaign," Tuffnut said.

Elsa calmly looked at the twins, trying to gauge them. This was what she wanted to know; how exactly did Hiccup 'convince' the rest of the Vikings to his side?

"I see, how exactly did he…'hammer' his point home?" Elsa asked.

Ruffnut shrugged before replying. "Eh, most of the tribes came willingly enough after hearing what he did, kinda like what we just did,"

Elsa turned to look at the book again. No wonder it was so simple! The book was a propaganda material!

"That and having dragons by your side can be very convincing. Some needed more convincing and we have to make agreements and what not. Some are very stubborn and flat-out refuses to follow Hiccup's way," Ruffnut continued and Elsa turned to look at her again.

"That is until Hiccup gave them a sound beating!" Tuffnut said with a loud cheer.

"How did he beat them?" Elsa asked again. So far it seems that Hiccup was a smart leader that doesn't resort to violence unless he needed to. She hoped that it would remain that way.

"Well, most of the tribes' ideologies are centered on their leader. If the leader hates dragons, replace said leader and problem settled! The rest of the tribe became more open after that," Tuffnut answered.

"How do you replace the leader?" Elsa asked again.

"Battle. Hiccup challenged them to a one-on-one fight. He gave quite the impression too, what with his flaming sword and all," Tuffnut said.

"Flaming sword?" Elsa sounded worried. 'Great, he rides dragons, creates devices and makes weapons too,'

"Yeah, and it's not just the sword mind you. The Vikings shit their pants seeing him fight. They said he fought like a dragon!" Ruffnut added.

Tuffnut snorted at this. "Yeah, you know he has A LOT of titles, from Dragon Conqueror, Dragon Whisperer, Dragon Trainer, Dragon Tamer," Tuffnut said as he counted on his fingers. "Even Dragon King too. Oh and the latest is Dragonborn,"

"Dragonborn?" Elsa asked.

"Yup, they said that he has the soul and blood of a dragon but body of a man," Ruffnut explained. "They even said that his roar can send people flying and he can breathe fire,"

Elsa gave them a confused look as if wanting clarification of what they said is true.

"Ehh, well, it's not easy to anger Hiccup to the point of having him scream at you, so we couldn't test that theory out. And since he could make a fire sword, I guess it will be a matter of time till he makes something that can make you breathe fire," Tuffnut shrugged.

"I guess," Elsa said and asked again. "But what about the tribes that completely refuses his ideology?"

"Eh, well we conquer them. It's not unusual for the Vikings to war against each other. It didn't take long to conquer them though; the longest was what, the Berserker tribe?"

"Yeah, Dagur's tribe. It took a week to conquer them. And that's because Hiccup aimed them first and we didn't have much force with us at that time," Ruffnut answered. "The hardest battle was against the Sky Fang Tribe. Vikings on dragons versus the other Vikings on dragons. It lasts only for a day but it was damn messy. Lost a lot on that day," Ruffnut said with a sad tone.

"Yeah…" Tuffnut joined and suddenly, the loud and cheery twins became quiet.

Elsa was speechless for a moment. The twins were so jovial about everything even when retelling their moments during their war. But to have their mood changed suddenly means that something big must have happened during that particular moment.

Perhaps, they lost someone dear to them?

"Well, I guess that's all about our Kingdom!" Ruffnut suddenly said in her cheerful tone again.

"Yes, I do believe so for the moment," Elsa said with a smile.

"And I believe that it is time take our leave!" Ruffnut said again.

"Won't you at least stay the night? I wouldn't want to be a bad hostess," Elsa offered.

"Nah, we can't leave our dragon unattended for long. Like Hiccup says, bringing an animal that's not native to an ecosystem could seriously damage it. For all we knew, Barf and Belch could have eaten most of the animals in your forest to extinction,"

"Barf and Belch?" Elsa asked.

"Our dragon's name. Like we said, we have bad naming sense, especially when we were younger," Ruffnut shrugged. "Hey, you wanna see a real dragon up close?"

The twins grinned at this and Elsa felt a shiver ran up to her spine. It was scary looking the twins like that; it was as if they were planning something…evil?

The other officials of Elsa's court gave her a worried look. They didn't believe in the existence of dragons and thought that the Viking emissaries made it up to make them look impressive. But to have them willing to prove it so casually...

Anna however, jumped at the chance. "Oh can we? Can we sis?" Anna turned to look at her and Elsa gave her a curious look.

"Weren't you the one scared of their _descriptions_?" Elsa said with a sly smile.

"Well, yeah but-but dragons!" Anna said with a high pithed tone and Elsa shook her head slowly.

"Alright let's go," Elsa said. Besides, she needed to see the dragons herself, because if they do exist, then Arendelle would have a very big problem.

**...**

"Alright, before we call our dragon, ground rules-" Tuffnut said to Elsa. They were at Arendelle's garden now waiting for the supposed dragon to show.

"-first, your guards must not show their weapon. I understand that seeing a magnificent beast such as a dragon can be scary the first time, buuuut, this is more for your protection than us or our dragon," Tuffnut explained. "You don't want to the dragon to see you as a threat, now would you?"

Elsa didn't reply for a moment, contemplating whether or not to trust the Viking emissaries about her safety and Anna.

"Don't worry, we're expert dragon handlers. Don't make any sudden moves or you might startle the dragon," Ruffnut added.

"Yeah, second rule, what she said," Tuffnut said and Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Oh and Your Highness, can you try not to…_freeze _our dragon?"

Elsa smiled slyly. Well, it's not like Elsa wasn't capable of defending herself. She was the Snow Queen after all. "Very well, guards, leave us,"

The guards look at each other and hesitated before retreating away from the garden. Kristoff look worried and moved towards Elsa.

"Elsa, are you sure about this?" Kristoff asked.

"Yes. Can you hold Anna back for a moment until it is really safe to approach the dragon?" Elsa asked the ice harvester. Kristoff looked at her for a moment before sighing.

"Fine, you sisters can be a handful at times," Kristoff said and went over to Anna to bring her away from Elsa despite her protests.

"Will this be enough?" Elsa asked the Vikings and the twins surveyed their surroundings before nodding.

"Yup, 'kay, here it is. The moment of truth!" Tuffnut said and the both of them began to…shout at the sky with an animal sound that she never heard before. The twins did this for a minute before stopping and faced the Snow Queen.

"'Kay, they should be here in minute," Ruffnut said and began checking her nails. Meanwhile Tuffnut was checking his satchel for something. After a while, he found what he was looking for and brought out a…fish. He then handed the fish to his sister and took out another one.

Suddenly, the sound of an animal's roar could be heard in the sky and a shadow covered them. Ruffnut looked to the sky and whistled. Everyone looked at the sky to see a huge flying creature covering the sky.

Anna gasped but seemed more excited than scared while Kristoff was embracing Anna. The other officials of the court were wide eyed and some began backing in fear.

Elsa's heart was beating fast and ice began to form on her hands.

"Woah there, Your Highness! Be cool…uh..forgive the pun, but don't do anything rash. Show the dragon you can be trusted and it will trust you," Tuffnut said and Elsa hesitated for a moment before she nodded and dispelled the ice.

"Heeeere guys!" Ruffnut jumped and waved at the shadow. The shadow then approached the ground and everyone could finally see the form of the dragon.

The two headed green dragon landed near the twins in front of the Elsa. The dragon's head began to move around to examine its surrounding and especially the people from Arendelle.

"Hey there guys, have you been good?" Ruffnut said and stroked the dragon's neck, drawing the attention of one of the heads to her.

"You didn't eat the whole animal population, didn't you?" Tuffnut said and the other head went to him. They both then began rubbing their snout and fed them the fish. The dragons, to Elsa, looked happy.

"Your Highness," Tuffnut and Ruffnut turned to face Elsa. "Meet Barf and Belch. Would you like to touch them?"

"That..I'm not sure if it's a good idea…" Elsa said and wished she had her gloves with her now.

"Naw, don't worry! In fact, why don't we have the Princess join us?" Ruffnut said and Tuffnut began to fish out two more fishes.

Elsa's eyes narrowed at this. "That is not a good idea,"

Anna however, liked the idea very much. "Sister! Let's do it, pleeeeease?"

"Look, the Zippleback has two heads, which means it has two personalities. You have to convince both heads to like you," Tuffnut explained and handed her a fish.

Elsa's officials were fuming at the back at having their queen handed raw fish like she was some commoner.

Elsa eyed the fish, the twins and the dragon which were looking at her with curious eyes. They look…harmless for the moment.

The Queen sighed. "Alright. Anna, come here," Elsa said and took the fish with both hands. She never handled a raw fish in her life before so she was taken aback by the feeling.

Anna struggled to break free from Kristoff but he released her reluctantly. She then excitedly went to take a fish from Ruffnut and waited.

"Alright, ready? No sudden movements now," Ruffnut said and the twins brought both heads towards the sisters. The head approached them carefully and eyed the offering for a moment before opening its mouth.

The sisters sent each other a look before putting the fish into the dragons' mouth. The dragon swallowed the food before nuzzling the sisters.

Anna squeaked but thankfully it didn't startle the dragon.

"Now, scratch them," Ruffnut said and Anna didn't need any more pointers before she scratched the Barf's head. Barf looked happy and Elsa decided to do the same to Belch. Soon, both dragon head's eyelids closed in contentment at the affection they were receiving.

"Aaaw, you're a big softie, aren't you?" Anna said and began cooing at Barf and Elsa smiled. The sisters continued scratching the dragons for a few more minutes until the twins stopped them.

"Alright, I guess that's enough for the demonstration!" Ruffnut said and the sisters stopped. Anna pouted but didn't say anything as the Barf moved away from her.

"So, that's all from us for now. We'll be taking our leave then to report to our King," Ruffnut said.

"Will I hear from your Kingdom again?" Elsa asked.

"Oh you will!" Tuffnut grinned. "Expect another visit within less than a week and this time, our King will come. That I guarantee,"

"I see…I look forward to it then," Elsa replied with a smile.

"Well then Your Highness, it's time for us to go," Ruffnut said and the twins mounted their dragon. The dragon then began to flap its wing and rise to the air. "Oh and one more show!"

When the Vikings were high up in the air, one of the dragon's head let loose a stream of green gas in front of them and the other dragon ignited it with a spark, causing and explosion of flame.

The group of people gasped, including Elsa and when the flame was gone, so was the Vikings.

Elsa looked at the sky for a moment before turning to look at Anna. Anna didn't say anything and gave her sister a worried look. They both were silent but they didn't need words to tell what they were thinking.

Reality dawned on everyone that witnessed what happened today. The Vikings have dragons and it would be unwise to make an enemy out of them.

Elsa had to make sure that it won't happen.

**...**

High up in the clouds, a two headed dragon can be seen flying casually. On top of the dragon's heads were two Vikings seemingly in a good mood.

"So! Phase 1 success?" Ruffnut asked her brother with a grin.

"Success? We ACED it!" Tuffnut said the both of them head-butted each other.

"Argh! Now, Phase 2!" Ruffnut said and the both of them grinned again.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Phew! That was quite long!

Read and Review!


	3. Chapter 2: White Queen

**Author's Note: **Thank you guys for reviewing and giving such positive feedbacks! I really appreciate it! It made me feel giddy to receive them!

ONE MORE THING! I received a critique that made me realize something…I kind of info dump too much. Kind of forcing you guys to read a history book before allowing you to read a novel or comic. Because of that I've done a major edit to this chapter and perhaps, to the previous ones too if required.

**EDIT: **Previously, this chapter tells the problems that Elsa and Hiccup faced by sort of inner monologue and I realized that it sounded boring to read. So I revamped it to make it more interesting...I hope. Unfortunately, it became longer so I have to split Elsa and Hiccup's side.

**Flashback Format: When you see this symbol ...~... it is the start of long flashback and the next ****...~... is the end of that particular flashback. Italics outside those symbols are for short flashbacks.**

* * *

**Chapter 2 - White Queen**

To Elsa, the sky was a wonderful and magical thing. Why wouldn't it? Countless civilizations and religions all viewed the sky as the place where the divine or gods came from.

During the day, it brought the Sun and with it, life and energy to everything that it touches. Animals would wake to hunt and humans would go out to work to earn their living. And during the night, the sky brought out the darkness so that living things could rest. Animals would rest and sleep and humans would bond with their family and friends before sleep claim them.

Elsa favoured and loved the night more than day. It was so beautiful during the night, where countless brethren of the Sun would come out along with the Moon to shine the light during the dark. During that time, the stars would make funny patterns which Elsa learned, were connected and have their own names. The Moon also would have its own patterns on different nights.

Night time was also the time when her parents, especially her father, would devote their time and attention to Elsa and Anna.

But, the night sky she was seeing was unnatural; a mockery of the night sky she loved and adore.

That night, it was filled with terrible noises. She could hear the roar of animals that she never heard of and the sound of her people screaming in fear and pain. The sky was filled with countless creatures that were large enough to block light from the stars and the moon.

And there was fire.

The sky was filled with fire spewed from the creatures. The buildings, roads, ships and even her people was on fire! The kingdom of her family, her kingdom was burning to the ground!

She could see her soldiers and guards tried in vain to stop the fires and the _creatures _that breathe it. She saw a man swooped to the sky and dropped to the ground while screaming to his death. She saw a man swallowed and she saw _someone _who was so badly burned; she couldn't tell if it was a she, or he.

Her people screamed for her help and she wanted to.

But then she heard a loud screeching noise. She tried to find the source, but she couldn't! And then, she saw a flash of purple bolt before it struck the ground in front of her, knocking her away.

She tried to get up but it was hard as she was still disoriented. A guard helped her to her feet and told her to take shelter in the castle, where it was safer. She wanted to say no, and wanted to help but her body disobeyed her and she ran towards the castle.

She reached her throne room where a group of soldier waited for her. They told her to stay at the throne as they form the last line of defence against the invaders.

They waited. And then what seemed like an eternity, a figure approached.

Elsa couldn't see the man's face as it was covered in a helmet that shaped like a dragon. The man's huge body was muscled and covered in leather armor. His left shoulder has a snow leopard's head and its fur was fashioned into a cape. She could see that he was dragging a long two handed sword that was _flaming_.

Her soldiers rushed to repel the intruder and the man roared. They were taken aback by it and the man took the opportunity first.

Elsa could only see in horror as the man faced her soldiers, dodging their attacks and returning them fatally. The fight ended in less than a minute.

The man then turned his attention towards her and his fiery gaze was melting her resolve. She conjured ice but it turned to steam against him. He let out a booming laugh as he walked towards her. His walk was confident and powerful. It was the walk of a king, the walk of a man that would own everything if he wishes it.

This was the man that conquered dragons.

"Your kingdom is mine_,_" his voice was deep and confident and Elsa backed away until she stumbled and fell to her throne.

This was the man that conquered and unified the Vikings; warriors that faced dragons and didn't back away from them for more than seven generations.

The man stabbed his sword on the floor before nearing her. His hand touched her cheek and she felt as if she was on fire; a feat that she thought was impossible. "And so are you,"

The Snow Queen was powerless to do anything but to only ask a question, "Why?"

"Because you refused me. And I always…get whatever I want," the man said.

This was the man that conquered her kingdom.

**…**

Elsa woke up with a start and let out a short scream. It took a moment and a frantic scan of her surrounding that she realized that it was just a nightmare. She then calmed herself down and realized that it was still dark. That and she had frozen her room.

With a sigh, she thawed her room and took a look at her window. The night sky was full of stars along with the Moon and it was quiet, just the way it was supposed to be.

Elsa then turned her attention to her left and found the book that chronicled the Viking King's tale of his early years. The book was opened at the page that showed Hiccup getting ready to capture the Night Fury.

Elsa hugged her knees while giving the book a glare that froze it, as if it would solve her problem. At least she could hope, right?

Elsa then sighed and turned her attention away from the frozen book. She was facing quite a problem, namely her recently and mysterious suitor; the Viking King and his dragons.

Well, to be honest, the Viking King himself was a little cause of concern, but it was the dragons that had worried her and her council.

She then remembered the meeting she had with her council the night before.

**...~...**

_"Gentlemen, I thank you all for coming to the meeting tonight," Elsa said to the people that made her kingdom's council including Anna. Elsa wanted her to be involved in the kingdom's ruling as much as possible to prepare her in case something happened to Elsa._

_They nodded before Elsa resumed. "Yesterday, I received another marriage proposal. Now, this usually wasn't a cause of much concern to the kingdom as I've received quite a number of them from various kingdoms. However, the latest marriage proposal I received is from the Viking King from the Kingdom of Berk,"_

_"Usually, I could choose to refuse the other marriage proposals without affecting the relationship with their kingdom and ours. However, I'm afraid that if I refuse the Viking King, he might wage war on Arendelle," Elsa finished and silence took over the room for a moment._

_"But Your Majesty, surely they wouldn't do that, just because you refuse?" Hugo Johannes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs asked. He was a short brunette in his early thirties, has black eyes and wore a brown formal suit with matching pants._

_"They might," Finn Gerhad, Arendelle's Minister of Finance said. He was a blonde middle aged man with black eyes and a thick mustache. He wore a white suit with matching pants and gloves and currently, he was busy wiping his glasses._

_"Our Queen doesn't make baseless assumptions. Before this, much of the encounters with the Vikings were not friendly. They're like the Mongol savages. Besides, what would you expect from them? They usually use force to get what they want. I'm surprised that they even bother with the marriage proposal at all," Finn said._

_Elsa knew about the Mongolian Empire. It was the largest land empire known to mankind and they didn't achieve it using peaceful means._

_"Savages? How would you know? That was in the past! From what we know, they could have changed!" Hugo said._

_"Really now? Have you seen the way they speak to Our Queen? Only savages didn't know their manners when meeting a person of utmost importance," Finn said with a sly smile._

_"Different cultures have different ways. They might not be accustomed to ours!" Hugo countered._

_"Gentlemen, please, calm down," Elsa said and the council was silent. Elsa sighed. "I don't mind about the way they speak to me that day. I understand if they didn't know about our ways. Despite that, I do not think them as savages,"_

_Elsa eyed Finn until he reluctantly caved in._

_"I apologize, I won't refer them as such again" Finn said._

_"Good," Elsa said and Hugo looked triumphant. "That said, we still do not know what the outcome would be. All we can do is prepare for the worst, and hope for the best,"_

_"That's true," a man said. The man was a middle aged with blue eyes, black flattop hair along with well-kept goatee and a mustache. He was wearing the ceremonial military uniform decorated with the highest ranking badges Arendelle could give to her people. His name was Frederik Havar, general of Arendelle's military force and long-time friend to her father. He was the closest thing to an uncle for the royal sisters._

_"The war is indeed a big IF. One of the reasons that they even bother with the marriage proposal instead of invading us, is that they might be recovering from their unification campaign," Frederik said._

_"Regardless, it is important to be prepared. When a kingdom increases its army, we have to be prepared regardless of their intention. After all, intentions can change overnight. Furthermore; it's not unusual for a stronger nation to take advantage of weaker ones. It certainly happened before. This is one of the outcomes that we fear might happen," Frederik continued. "And that is the agenda of this meeting tonight,"_

_Elsa nodded. "That is true. General, please continue,"_

_"Unfortunately, we are facing what could be Arendelle's greatest foe, or perhaps the entire world. We all know the story of the Mongol Empire, like Finn reminded us," Frederik said and glanced at Finn before resuming. "They managed to build the largest empire in the history of mankind and that's only with horses. Now imagine, what would happen if the Mongols have access to dragons back then?"_

_The council was silent again._

_"This could happen, should the Vikings choose to follow the history of the Mongol Empire, except that they will have much greater success," Frederik said._

_"As far as I know, all the dragons can fly and that means air superiority. Furthermore, from their description, each dragon species is essentially a weapon. We are talking about an advantage so unfair that you can call it as cheating if war is a game," Frederick said. "It would be like fighting against a steel armoured enemy while our army only has wooden swords,"_

_The council members started to look worried at this._

_"Oceans and large bodies of water can be traversed easily without the use of boats or ships. Obstacles and terrains meant for slowing ground forces are useless. Defenses are also useless as they can just fly high up and drop rocks at us like some sick punishment from god," Frederick said._

_"Don't you think that you put too much credit to these creatures? They're not invincible. What happened to the Mountain Dragons was proof to that," Finn said._

_"That is just a single type of dragon, and to be honest, that dragon is tame compared to what the dragons the Vikings faced on a daily basis," Frederik said._

_He then moved to a tripod that was holding a map that showed the region of Arendelle and its closest neighbors. "Now, Unfortunately for Arendelle, she is the nearest kingdom to the Vikings, and thus, its neighbor,"_

_"The Viking Kingdom is located to the north of Arendelle," Frederik showed the location of where the Viking Kingdom was. It was still quite far from Arendelle and would take a few days by ship to reach them. Furthermore, the region was covered in clouds._

_Elsa knew what the clouds meant. It was uncharted area._

_"So far, the place is uncharted. To my knowledge, no one has managed to travel there and return alive," Frederik explained. "The Vikings said that Berk is located in the Meridian of Misery, correct? Well, it turns out that name was appropriate along with others like Niflheim, Sea of Monsters and so on," Frederik continued._

_"The traders and sailors refused to go to anywhere near that area. Lots of supernatural stuff I heard," Frederik said. "They say if you sail there, the sky is clear. But once you get farther in, suddenly, out of nowhere a fog appears. Then, you will hear noises and something will hit your ship. That was your cue to get out of there. If you pressed on, then the monsters comes out,"_

_"Monsters?" Anna looked horrified._

_"Yes. Years ago, sailors found a pirate ship floating aimlessly at the sea. Almost everyone on board was scalded to death," Frederik said calmly. "A survivor said that a large winged creature flew from the sea and spit boiling water at them,"_

_"Dragons…" Elsa said._

_Frederik only nodded before continuing. "And that's not the worse yet. Have you heard of what happened to the pirate Blood Beard?"_

_Elsa and Anna nodded but a council member shook his head._

_"Blood Beard was a pirate famous for dunking his beard in his victim's blood," Frederik explained and Anna looked horrified. "He was also a slaver, murderer, and rapist; in short, one of the vilest man to ever grace the world. He wasn't just a pirate too, but a pirate lord. He was one of the most successful pirates as he has twenty ships under his command,"_

_"6 months ago, he decided to conquer the Sea of Monsters with his whole fleet. He decided to do it during the night, thinking that maybe the monsters were asleep," Frederik shook his head. "It was a foolish move. All he heard of was loud screeching sounds in the air, similar to what the Viking emissaries described before his fleet was hit by flashes of purple and exploded. His entire fleet was disabled in less than 5 minutes before the fog consumed them,"_

_Elsa's eyes widened as she heard the description. 'Night Fury…but it seems like they have more of them…'_

_The whole council was silent. They were familiar with the story since some of the remains, including survivors of the pirate lord's fleet have washed to Arendelle's shore._

_"To sum it up," Frederik continue. "It seems that there are many types of dragons, including aquatic ones. This means, they not only have air superiority, but naval as well. Furthermore, there is also a dragon that can dig tunnels underground. That means they can just sink this whole castle if they want to,"_

_"Great, so the Vikings come from a monstrous place and managed to tame the monsters there. Wonderful, just wonderful!" Hugo shook his head sadly._

_Finn looked annoyed at this. "So? They have dragons, but Our Queen controls ice, surely they would think twice about attacking us,"_

_"No, if anything, it would motivate them more," Hugo said, much to Finn's chagrin. "Acquiring Arendelle is the most logical thing if they want to set up forward base for expansion and Queen Elsa, because of her power, is the icing on the cake. Please forgive me, My Queen," Hugo said to Elsa._

_"I am not offended, Hugo. I understand," Elsa smiled and Hugo returned the smile._

_"Hugo is right," Frederick continued. "Queen Elsa's power is just as cheating as the dragons are when in war,"_

_"When your father decided to…isolate you and keep your powers hidden from the public, he did it not only to protect Arendelle and the others from…you…at that time -" Frederik said with a sad look on his serious face. Anna also looked sad but Elsa gave Frederik a reassuring smile that she was fine with it._

_Frederik's face steeled again before continuing. "- he also did it to protect you, Your Majesty. If word had spread out that a girl with the powers to control ice, you can bet that everybody will be interested in getting you, Your Majesty. Hell – pardon my words – if I didn't belong to Arendelle, I would tell my king to get you by any means necessary,"_

_The council understood what Frederik meant. It was the reason why there were so many marriage proposals for Elsa and not Anna._

_"But of course, that was then. Now, you're in control of your powers and trying to get you by force would be very hard," Frederik said. "Unfortunately, the Vikings might have the force to do so,"_

_"Have you forgotten something? Have you forgotten how powerful Our Queen is? She could freeze the dragons before they could reach here!" Finn said._

_"That is true. But Our Queen is not as powerful as you think she is. Forgive me, My Queen," Frederick said._

_Elsa smiled. "No need to apologize, I know my own strength and weaknesses,"_

_"The Queen's power is like a sword," Frederik said and pulled out his sword. "With it, she is powerful," Frederik then placed the sword on the table. "Without it, she is weak,"_

_Elsa smiled sadly. "That is true, without my power, I'm just a girl with a kingdom on her shoulders. There is a possibility that my power could fail me,"_

_"And even with her power, Our Queen still bleeds like any of us do. Much like a game of chess, the Queen piece can be taken down by a single misstep," Frederik said._

_"Way to make things seem hopeless," Finn said and crossed his arms._

_"I'm just stating the facts. This is my first time facing such enemy. If you tell me that the Mongol Empire is knocking on our doors, I will tell you with confidence that we will drive away the Mongols and that Arendelle's sovereignty will be preserved," Frederik replied. "But, against such an unfair enemy?"_

_"What about our allies? Would they come to our defense?" Elsa asked._

_"If we can convince that the Vikings are a threat that cannot be faced alone, then yes," Frederik said and Elsa's worry was lessened a bit._

_"But that is a big IF, yes?" Elsa said and Frederik smiled sadly._

_"Yes,"_

_Frederik sighed and ran his hand over his hair. "So then that means we have to suck it up to them for the moment,"_

_Elsa nodded slowly. "That is true,"_

_"Wait, so we're just going to cave in to their demands?" Finn said with angry look. "We're just going to let Arendelle be assimilated into the Viking Kingdom?"_

_"Would you prefer war on our heads?" Hugo answered. "And Arendelle won't necessarily be assimilated into their kingdom should Our Queen accepts the marriage. Princess Anna will become the next queen and our sovereignty will still be intact. If anything, we will be allies with them at best,"_

_"But that's the thing, if they really want to expand; it doesn't make sense for them even bother with the marriage at all," Hugo said. "All I'm saying is that we might have overthink a situation that might not even happen!"_

_Hugo looked at Elsa sadly._

_"Your Majesty, I understand the problem that you're facing. One of the reasons why you haven't accepted any suitors is because of personal preference," Hugo said and Elsa suddenly found that her hands are more interesting. Anna could only gave her sister a sad look._

_"And you think that the marriage proposal from the Viking King is finally forcing you to choose," Hugo continued. "But, please believe me when I say that nobody in this kingdom will blame you if you refuse,"_

_"Even if it leads to war?" Elsa said sadly and turned her gaze to Hugo._

_"Forgive me Your Majesty, but you don't know that! You are letting fear clouding your judgment! Fear of the dragons and fear of the Vikings' supposedly savage nature! We are assuming too much based on the actions of a few from the past and a single meeting from their emissaries! For all we know, the Vikings might be different than what we thought," Hugo said._

_"All I'm saying is that there might be another way that can benefit all," Hugo continued. "We can try to negotiate for a different outcome like-"_

_"Princess Anna instead of Our Queen," Finn cut in and Elsa glared at him._

_Anna looked at her hands guiltily._

_"The Viking King asks for my hand in marriage, not my sister's," Elsa said coldly and the temperature of the room began to drop. Anna grasped and squeezed Elsa's hand to calm her down. Finn looked scared and hastily apologized before the temperature returned to normal_

_"Regardless, you are right Minister Hugo; I may have overthink this situation," Elsa said._

_Hugo nodded. "Please Your Majesty, don't worry for the moment. Until we meet the Viking King himself and hear his decision, then we worry at that time,"_

_Elsa nodded with a smile._

_Even so, she couldn't help but to feel worry._

_**...~...**_

How could she not? It was the first time that she ever encountered someone that could do whatever he wanted without much concern.

Elsa sighed and turned to look at the book again. She then unfroze it and saw the image of the young Hiccup.

"All these worrying are because of your dragons and not knowing what kind of person you are. What will you do should I refuse you, I wonder? If you didn't have those dragons, then things will be much simpler, no?" Elsa said and traced the image of Hiccup and unknowingly smiled a little.

"I wonder…what kind of person are you, Hiccup?"

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**Author's Note: **Right, so uh, I hope you guys liked the hopefully improved version!

Read and Review Readers!


	4. Chapter 3: Black King

**Author's Note: **This chapter was originally part of chapter 2, but it was too long and kinda boring so I have to revamp it to make it more interesting. For those that have been following this story and were disappointed, thinking that this chapter will be a new chapter, I'm so sorry. It's just that I felt that it needed to be done.

I suggest reading this chapter, and previous chapter again as new elements were added.

Alright, so I'm sure that you've read too much about Arendelle by now, so here comes the Vikings side!

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**CHAPTER 3 - ****Black King**

8 years ago, Berk was, to put it mildly, a simple Viking village on an island. Well, according to the Vikings that lived there anyway. Foreigners would think that Berk was anything but simple, what with dragon sieges, dragon arena and new houses for an old village.

Dragons…to most of the world, they were fabled creatures of myths and legends. Regarded as powerful creatures, certain cultures viewed them as malevolent creatures of destruction and death while some viewed them in a more positive light.

To the Vikings, both are true; after all, they knew better than the rest of the world when it comes to dragons.

Years ago, the sight of dragons in the air was a cause of concern and alarm. Now, they were as normal as birds flying in the sky. Dragons ridden by Vikings filled the air of Berk, and they often carry food and products from other villages to trade.

Berk today was no longer a simple village any more as it has become the capital for the Viking Kingdom of Berk. It has a lot more buildings (most of them are made of stones now), including a larger port, academies, and lots of people as well as dragons.

In other words, Berk has become a busy place compared to what it was years ago.

So of course, in a busy place that was also quite a weird place (because of dragons and the behaviours of certain Vikings), it could be forgiven if the people didn't notice (or maybe they were accustomed to it) weird moments that happened from time to time.

"You know, I remember a time when you would fight a dragon that so much as _hugged_ me, let alone handle me like this," Hiccup, the Viking King of the Kingdom of Berk said to a black dragon that was looking at him with a tilted head. "What happen to that dragon?"

Currently, Hiccup was suspended in mid-air in front of his house because of an orange Monstrous Nightmare that was biting his shirt. Toothless the Night Fury and his _loyal _dragon laughed at him and Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Hiccup? What are you doing up there?" a voice said and the Monstrous Nightmare turned to look at the source, conveniently showing Hiccup who it was.

"Eh, you know, just thinking of a new trend on how to be king," Hiccup shrugged. "I could just do my job like this all day long,"

"U-huh," the voice belonged to one of his childhood friend, Fishlegss Ingerman. "So how is it working for you?"

"Great actually! I don't have to walk so that's a plus," Hiccup said.

"Riiiight…" Fishlegss said with a smile and shook his head. He was about to say something when another voice cut in.

"Hiccup? What are you doing?" a familiar voice said. The dragon then turned to look at the voice again.

"Oh hey Gobber. Just trying out a new way to be kingly and all that," Hiccup waved at one of his long-time friend and mentor. Gobber the Belch was pushing a cart full of equipment, and his trusty sheep, Phil was beside him, munching on the grass.

Gobber gave him a weird look. "Are you trying to be condescending? I know you're the king now, but I never thought that it would get to your head,"

Hiccup rolled his eyes in response. "No Gobber, somebody's dragon just swoops in and decided to pick me up like this,"

"Oh," Gobber said and scratched his head. "Carry on!" He was about to leave when Hiccup called him.

"Gobber! Do you know where the twins are?" Hiccup asked.

"No, why?" Gobber replied.

"Well, I haven't heard from them in almost two weeks now," Hiccup said worriedly.

"Maybe you sent them on a job?" Fishlegss said and the Monstrous Nightmare holding Hiccup turned to look at him.

"No, I didn't," Hiccup replied.

"They'll be fine, no need to worry your skivvies off!" Gobber added and the dragon turned to look at him now.

"Yeah, I'm sure they're ok, probably partying with the tribe chiefs again," Fishlegs said and the dragon turned to look at him again. Hiccup sighed at this.

Toothless only watched the interaction with amused expression.

"Hey," Gobber said and the dragon faced him. "What do you know! This way of yours is kinda neat after all,"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Yeah, about the twins, I'm really worried about them. Remember the last time they went missing for a week?"

"Oh yeah, they went and set up an arranged marriage between you and Asleif from the Bone Breaker tribe," Fishlegs said and the dragon turned to him again.

Remembering that moment, Gobber laughed, drawing the attention of the dragon to him, causing it to tilt its head in confusion. "Oooh, yes! I remember that! So you're afraid they might be doing something like that again?"

"Yeah," Hiccup simply replied and scratched the dragon's jaw to keep it from turning its head every time Gobber or Fishlegss speak. The monstrous Nightmare then had a look of content on its face.

"Oh well, when it happens it happens," Fishlegs shrugged and quickly looked away. Hiccup gave him a weird look. "You have an issue right now and this is from the tribe chiefs,"

"Let me guess," Hiccup rolled his eyes. "It's about the name of our kingdom again isn't it?"

Fishlegs looked sheepish. "Yeea,"

"Well what's wrong with Berk?" Gobber said, looking a bit angry. Well, you can't fault him for being patriotic about his birthplace after all.

"They said it sounds like burp," Fishlegs answered and Gobber rolled his eyes.

"Compared to the names they suggested, Berk sounds tame. Do you have their name suggestions?" Hiccup said.

"Yeah," Fishlegs said and took out a list. "Let's see…we got Moon's Blood,"

"That…sounded like a woman's monthly problem," Hiccup said.

"Well, you refused Blood Moon last time," Gobber added.

"Next we got Asgard,"

"Won't the gods smite us for that?" Gobber said.

"Midgard,"

"Uhh, the whole world is Midgard. Wouldn't it be redundant?" Gobber said again.

"Niflheim,"

"They're kinda asking for it, don't they?" Gobber rolled his eyes.

"Although it kinda fits," Hiccup added.

"Ragnarok!"

"The Twilight of the Gods? Have they lost their minds?" Gobber rubbed his temples.

"It sounds cool," Hiccup shrugged and Fishlegss nodded enthusiastically. Gobber could only roll his eyes.

"Okay, moving on. Next we have Monkey Island,"

"I'm sure we know who gave that idea," Gobber rolled his eyes.

"Monkey Fist,"

"Same guy," Gobber said. "Where did you found that guy anyway?"

"He found us," Hiccup shrugged.

"Uhh…Land of Frost and Dragons,"

"That's quite a mouthful," Gobber said.

"Oh wait, it says here that it can be shortened to LOFAD?" Fishlegs added.

"And I'm sure in the future that name will be a wonderful target for jokes," Hiccup said.

"And finally, Vikings-Come-and-Conquer?"

"And now they've abandon all sense of naming," Hiccup said with a sigh. "It seems like our horrible naming sense will continue for a while after all,"

"Eh, could have been worse. At least it was an improvement from last time where they only suggested their own names," Gobber shrugged.

"True. Oh well, Fishlegss, as usual, tell the chiefs that we need more name suggestions. At least that will distract them from this issue for a while," Hiccup said.

"Sure thing Hiccup!" Fishlegss mocked saluted with a smile. "So…are you going to get down or what?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes when a young boy appeared in front of Hiccup.

"King Hiccup!" the boy said excitedly. The dragon, having heard of the boy's voice, turned to look at him and dropped Hiccup in front of him as if it was a gift. However, years of experience allowed Hiccup to land on his feet gracefully.

"Oh hey Hrolf! This is your dragon I take it?" Hiccup said to the boy. Hrolf had a mop of black hair which was typically covered by the horned helmet that most Vikings wear and black eyes. He has freckles covering his cheeks and he wore a green shirt with a fur vest and brown pants. If anything, he looked like Gustav during his early years.

"Oh yes! I've managed to train Pyre to safely pick people up! I wanted to show it to you but I kind of forget to tell him to bring you to me," Hrolf said with a sheepish look.

"No, don't worry, no physical harm done," Hiccup said with a smile and patted the boy's helmet. "You did a wonderful job. Keep it up!"

Hrolf's smiled was ear-splitting as he nodded furiously. "Thank you! I will!" Hrolf said as he ran towards his dragon.

Hiccup and Gobber watched as Hrolf mounted Pyre before flying away.

"Look at him, all wide-eyed and idealistic. Just like you. That's what you're trying to achieve, right?" Gobber nudged Hiccup.

"Yeah," Hiccup simply said with a smile. "Now all we need is a thousand more like him and my plan will be complete,"

Fishlegs gave Hiccup a nervous look.

"Urgh, just one of you is a pain the ass enough," Gobber rolled his eyes and started to walk away and Phil the sheep followed him. "Anyway, got lots to do!"

"Sure. Say hi to dad if you see him, will you?" Hiccup said at the retreating figure of Gobber. All he got was a wave before he disappeared into the village.

Some Vikings caught his eye and they waved at him. Hiccup waved back with a smile before turning around to head back into his house (which was larger and made from stone).

"Come on Fishlegs, we'll talk more inside the house," Hiccup said and Fishlegs nodded. Toothless nudged his back to make him move faster.

"I'm going! Geez!" Fishlegs said playfully. "What am I, your prisoner or something?"

Toothless gave him a smile before nudging him again.

Hiccup immediately went to the kitchen to prepare drinks and some food for Fishlegs. Meanwhile, Fishlegs and Toothless made themselves comfortable at the dining room. However, Fishlegs noticed something on the table; a plate of fruits.

After a while, Hiccup appeared from the kitchen carrying drinks and some snacks.

"I see you enjoyed your appetizer," Hiccup said, noticing the empty plate of fruits.

"Sorry, all this hard work made me hungry," Fishlegs said sheepishly as Hiccup put down the food.

"No, no worries, I got you the main course, though it's not much," Hiccup sarcastically said.

"Ooh!" Fishlegs said with delight as he reached out for his food. "I hope there are desserts!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. While waiting for Fishlegs to finished eating, he decided to keep himself busy by for a book among the heap of books and papers that Fishlegs had placed on the table.

Hiccup smiled as he ran his hand on the cover of the book.

'The Tale of The Dragon Conqueror'

Hiccup shook his head at the title. He never liked the title but Vikings like to exaggerate things to make them more epic that it actually was. That and everyone agreed that the Vikings are more likely to follow a dragon 'conqueror' than 'trainer'.

He didn't have much say in the matter but at least it was more believable than Dragonborn. How did they came up with that name, he didn't know. He guessed that was what you get when drunken mischievous Viking twins were tasked to tell the story.

Hell, they even wanted to change the Red Death's name to Alduin! He didn't know what the name meant but all he got from the Viking twins were; destroyer, devour and master.

He got to give it to the twins; they can be really creative.

Hiccup turned the pages of the book and sighed. The book wasn't entirely accurate as some parts were not included such as his rather romantic first flight with Astrid. But he knew that it would complicate the story and...it was a private memory after all. He didn't want everyone to know about it.

As Hiccup turned more of the pages, the feeling of nostalgia caught up to him.

When he was little, all he wanted was to be a proper Viking like everyone else. After that, Hiccup would then be a great Chief just like his dad and make him proud.

Hiccup chuckled at the thought. Fishlegss and Toothless gave him a weird look.

Life worked in funny ways at times. That was what happened to him.

Now, the definition of Viking certainly has changed and was shaped by him and he hoped he could shape it well. Today, he wasn't just a Chief to his village, but to everyone that called themselves Viking. He didn't just lead a tribe now but a whole kingdom!

It would be a lie to say that he didn't feel _a bit _proud of his achievements.

But, not everything was perfect. Although his kingdom was peaceful, there are a lot of problems that needed to be addressed soon.

Hiccup noticed Fishlegs has finished with his food and Hiccup put the book away.

"So, let's hear the progress reports,"

"Oh, yes!" Fishlegs said and dusted his hands before taking a report and cleared his throat.

"Well, repairs to the damage caused by the unification campaign are going well without too much problem. Most of the tribes are receptive to the dragons, but…" Fishlegs glanced at Hiccup.

"Some of the tribes are quite _annoyed _that they have to give a lot of food to the dragons. They said that they couldn't afford it because they're still recovering from the campaign," Fishlegs said.

And here comes the first problem; food. Before the Vikings were unified, food was more or less not a problem to each tribe. Back then when they were still fighting the dragons, they didn't have to share their food with them. Now? A dragon can eat more than the largest Viking. And if they had food shortage, they could just raid nearby tribes for their food and resources. Today you can't do that, of course.

It didn't help that the Viking kingdom was compromised mainly of islands and not large landmasses like other kingdoms have. They didn't have much space for farming and livestock. Because of this, the Vikings depended much on fishing for their food but again, a dragon could eat a large portion of a Viking's daily catch, leaving little for them.

Hiccup drummed his fingers on the table. Berk had no problem feeding its population and dragons, but a lot of other parts of his kingdom weren't so fortunate.

"Well, most of the Vikings really need to eat less if they want to ride dragons comfortably," Hiccup chuckled and Fishlegs pouted. Hiccup realised this and rubbed his neck.

"Right, moving on. Next," Hiccup said and Fishlegs nodded before continuing.

"About education…most of the tribes weren't very receptive," Fishlegs said and Hiccup sighed.

Now came the second problem; the Viking's education system. During his travels, Hiccup had found out that the Vikings were seriously far behind in education and scientific advancements than the other kingdoms. It was such a shock to Hiccup to find out how other kingdoms, especially civilizations, treat people like…him. Other kingdoms accepted and nurtured people with special talents whereas the Vikings (at least before Hiccup made a difference) treated _hiccups _like him as a black sheep.

Well to be fair, it wasn't that the Vikings rejected special talents completely. There were brainy Vikings like Fishlegss and Gobber after all. It was just that…Hiccup was a wee bit different than the rest.

Suffice to say, the Vikings were seriously far behind in terms of scientific advancements.

Heck, if it weren't for the dragons, the Vikings would have serious problems if facing against an attack from the other advanced kingdoms. What was more; the dragons were not the ultimate weapon that some people thought they were.

To put it in perspective; the Vikings warred against the dragons for more than three centuries and it ended with the both of them becoming allies. Other civilizations drove them into extinction so fast that they become myths and legends in less than a decade. Well, to be fair, those dragons lived on large landmasses that made it easy to hunt them whereas the dragons here have the safety of the ocean.

What was more, it turns out that the reason the Vikings sailed to this dragon infested region in the first place was because of the same reason the dragons did; they were driven off by other civilizations and having no place to go, they choose to come here.

It was lucky that Vikings have stubbornness issues.

"Let me guess, the ones giving problems are the adults, correct?" Hiccup asked and Fishlegs nodded.

"The younger generations looked up to you," Fishlegs said.

"Good, the children are more important anyway. Hopefully the adults will soon change their minds," Hiccup said and sighed again.

As usual, it was the adults that are most resistant to change. Well, he couldn't blame them. After all, they've been living their own way of life until Hiccup just came in, made a mess and wanted to implement changes in such a short period of time.

But he needed to do this for the sake of everyone. Change is nature and they have to adapt to those changes if they want to survive and thrive. It was how the world works.

"So, Hiccup, what are you going to do?"

The truth was that he already knew the solution; peaceful contact with other civilizations. And although it might sound tempting and easier, Hiccup will not resort to war to get what he wanted. The best solution was to open the Viking Kingdom for trade with the other kingdoms.

But then that would mean revealing the existence of dragons. This region was (to his knowledge) the last safe haven for dragons. There was the possibility that other kingdoms would want the dragons for themselves. And if they couldn't get it peacefully, they would get it by other means.

Hiccup had faced that scenario many times before and that's coming from the Vikings themselves!

A Viking's way of living back then was to kill dragons and now, they live with them. To be the King of Vikings meant that you not only have to do what was best for the Vikings but for the dragons as well.

He couldn't let anything befall the Vikings and the dragons. They were his responsibility and his life.

Toothless nudged him and broke Hiccup out of his deep thought. He unconsciously rubbed his temple and that must have worried his partner.

"Did I worry you bud?" Hiccup said with a smile and scratched Toothless. "Sorry, got a lot to think about,"

Hiccup sighed. "If only Astrid was here. She'd punch me some sense into me," Fishlegs gave him a worried look.

Toothless moaned at him and Hiccup smiled sadly. "What about you bud? When are you going to get yourself a nice Night Fury girl, huh? You're not exactly the 'rarest' around here anymore, you know,"

Toothless narrowed his eyes at him as if saying 'not until you get a girl first!'

Hiccup smiled at his companion's unwavering loyalty. "Thanks bud. What would I do without you?"

Toothless smiled at him in response.

Hiccup sighed. "We just have to persevere for a while. It takes a while to accept and adapt to changes after all,"

Fishlegs looked hesitant to speak before he mustered the courage to do so. "The food won't be much of a problem. But the education system takes a long time to bear result. You can't change it willy-nilly, we need to have a strong foundation,"

"And right now we lack it. I know," Hiccup said sadly. The people that knew him called him a genius, but he wasn't a genius in everything. There was only so much he can provide on certain fields of knowledge. For the rest he was going to need outside help or set back the Viking years of progress trying to learn things that other civilizations have already discovered.

Hiccup sighed again and ran his hand over his hair.

"Geez! Where are the twins? I hope they're not into some kind of trouble or something," Hiccup said and Fishlegs fidgeted in his seat. He really hoped the twins were not in any kind of trouble; he didn't need any more problems on his plate.

"Are you sure you haven't seen the twins?" Hiccup asked Fishlegs who looked away, guiltily.

"Nope! Haven't seen them at all! I was so busy you know, there was not even time to play with Meatlug!" Fishlegs answered.

"Oh really? Even though I saw you did just that a few days ago?"

Fishlegs chuckled nervously. Luckily for him, he was saved by the very twins that they were discussing about.

The door to Hiccup's house burst open and the Viking twins in question came in. They looked around frantically until they found their target; Hiccup.

"Hiccup! HICCCUPP!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut screamed and ran at Hiccup, hugged his legs and started to cry like children that got caught doing something very terrible.

"Woah woah woah! What's gotten into you guys?" Hiccup asked and his hands up in the air, not knowing where to put them.

"WE'RE SORRY! WE DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT!" Ruffnut wailed.

"Do what? Don't tell me you arrange me into another marriage?" Hiccup said, not knowing whether to get mad or not at them.

"NO! IT'S WORSE THAN THAT!" Tuffnut screamed and Hiccup could feel the stare of people looking at them.

"Alright, alright! Calm down. Tell me what happen or to be precise, what did you guys do?" Hiccup said and place his hands on the twin's helmet and patted them.

"We…we…we" Tuffnut said through his sobbing. "We might have…caused a war with another kingdom,"

"…." Hiccup was silent as he looked at them with blank faces and Toothless *gasped*, well it sounded like a gasp anyway.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked at each other before looking back at Hiccup.

"Hic-hiccup?" Ruffnut shook Hiccup softly.

"YOU WHAT?"

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**Author's Note: **Kudos to reader Comet Moon for his/her name idea for Bifrost! It sounds nice and kind of fitting! It might be used in the future, so keep an eye for it!

Read and Review!


	5. Chapter 4: The Vikings That Cried Wolf

**Author's Note: **Alright, new chapter! The Viking shenanigans continues!

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**CHAPTER 4 – ****The Vikings That Cried Wolf**

"_This is crazy! Do you know what will happen if it fails?" Fishlegs said nervously._

"_Ssshhhh, babe, don't curse it!" Ruffnut put a finger on his lips with a sly smile and Fishlegs immediately went red._

"_Come on!" a grinning Tuffnut went to Fishleg's side and wrapped his arm around Fishleg's neck. "Because it's crazy that it has to work!"_

"_But, but, but…Hiccup wouldn't approve of this!" Fishlegs fidgeted._

"_At times like this babe, we shouldn't be thinking of 'What-Would-Hiccup-Do'," Ruffnut said and went to his other side and wrapped her own arm around his neck._

"_Yeah, instead. We should be thinking…"Tuffnut said and the twins slapped their hands in front of Fishlegs' face. "'What-Wouldn't-Hiccup-Do?'" _

_The twins then slowly released their hands and gestured to something in the air in front of Fishlegs. Fishlegs could have sworn he saw a rainbow between the twin's hands. _

_But then it could have been dust._

"_Uuuhh…" Fishlegs wasn't entirely convinced._

"_I'll do that *fantasy* you've always wanted me to do," Ruffnut said to Fishlegs' ears and he immediately went red._

"_Ew, ew, ew!" Tuffnut immediately released himself from the two. "I do NOT need to hear that! Get a room!"_

"_Oh we will, right, honeybun~~" Ruffnut whispered seductively and Fishlegs furiously nodded. Tuffnut rolled his eyes._

"_Uhm, okay, so the objective of your plan is to get Hiccup to go to a foreign kingdom and hopefully, change his mind about his closed doors policy. But how are you going to do that exactly? I don't think he will ever step outside of the kingdom," Fishlegs asked and the twins grinned._

"_Simple…we cry wolf,"_

Fishlegs fidgeted in his seat as he remembered the conversation he had with the twins before they went 'missing'. He was lucky that he wasn't the one that would be questioned, or he might spill the beans in an instant!

'Sorry Hiccup!' Fishlegs thought as he watched the silent Hiccup seated in front of the twins.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was trying his best to keep his anger in check, lest he beat the twins with his prosthetic foot. Or maybe he'd stick it up to their asses. It was really tempting at the moment.

"_A strong man is not measured by his physical strength, but by his strength to reign in his anger. For anger is destructive. It will make you think that you are always right and your actions are justified when it is most likely not,"_

Hiccup repeated the words a wise man had told him during one of his travels in his head as he rubbed his temple. The source of his anger, the twins were sitting quite far from him as they waited for him to start. Meanwhile, Toothless placed his head on Hiccup's lap and let out a comforting drone.

Anger was a natural emotion and thus it is unavoidable. It was impossible to never get angry in a person's life.

Well, unless that person was a saint or something.

But Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was not a saint. He was just a normal person like everybody else.

It was just that a lot of people that knew him told that he has the patience of a saint.

While it was true that anger is unavoidable, it is how you manage the anger that makes the difference. And Hiccup has quite an effective anger management program.

But still, even his patience has its limits. And right now, he was close to breaking that limit.

How could he not? All of those hard work and sacrifice...all of it could be destroyed in an instant! What made it worse, he had a gut feeling that it would be his _friends'_ fault!

Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Fishlegs eyed each other nervously. Nobody liked a super angry person, especially the quiet ones.

And it was always the quiet and kind ones whose anger can be super scary. And Hiccup was one of them.

"So let me get this straight. You've been missing for almost two weeks and when you return, you brought war back to our home?" Hiccup started, still rubbing his temple.

"Ye-yes," Ruffnut meekly said.

"With a foreign kingdom called Arendelle," Tuffnut added.

Hiccup sighed before resuming. "Do you realize what you've done? All of our hard work, our sacrifices…"

Hearing those words, the twins felt really bad. But they expected this, so they steeled themselves.

"We didn't plan to! We swear! It all happened beyond our control!" Ruffnut said.

Hiccup snorted. "Of course it does. I don't know what's worse sometimes; when you plan something or when you don't,"

The twins eyed each other. If only Hiccup knew...

"Well, yeah but…at least hear us out?" Ruffnut said and Hiccup sighed.

Hiccup knew that their explanation would probably be silly, crazy and stupid that would made him question their logic and common sense. Heck, it would make him question his own because he was the one that made them the Viking emissaries after all.

But logic beats anger. And according to logic, the twin's track record as emissaries was quite well…according to Viking standards anyway despite their eccentrics. It could probably be that the twins didn't know about the other kingdom's customs.

If anything, they deserved to present their case. That and as a leader, Hiccup needed to know what happened anyway.

Unfortunately, the anger was still there. What was more, their explanation would likely anger him more if he listened to them now. So a little time out was needed.

"I'm going to take a cold bath and a nap to clear my head. You three, will stay here until I'm finished. _Understand?_" Hiccup said and the three of them nodded furiously until Fishlegs realized something.

The three Vikings waited for a few minutes in silence before they relaxed with a sigh.

"Phew! I thought that he was going to explode!" Fishlegs said as he slumped in his chair.

"Hah! Wait till he hears the truth! Then he'll explode," Ruffnut said with a grin and Fishlegs whined.

Just then, the door burst open again and the three Vikings quickly sat straight.

"So, how is it going?" a voice said and the Vikings relaxed again.

"Oh, it's just you, Gobber," Fishlegs said.

"What, you thought I was Hiccup? So where did he go to? I thought he was going to the forge to take a hammer to beat you two with, but apparently that's not it," Gobber said as he walked towards the twins.

"He's probably going to the cove where he meets Toothless," Fishlegs answered Gobber. "He wants to cool down a bit before talking to Ruff and Tuff again,"

"Yeah, we thought that he'd want this to be done quickly. But I guess we really made him mad," Ruffnut said.

"Ah, good thinking. Anyway, you got what I asked for?" Gobber asked the twins.

"Pfft! What do you take us for? Of course we have it!" Ruffnut answered and pulled out a parcel which Gobber took gleefully.

The way Gobber opened the parcel would make you think of a kid opening his gift. His eyes then widened with a shine as he took out the item; a fabric of purple silk.

"Oooh, that's the stuff," Gobber said as he rubbed the fabric on his face. The other Vikings just gave him a weird look.

"O-kay, so did you do what we asked you to do?" Tuffnut asked.

"Of course, you didn't see Stoick coming here do you?" Gobber replied. "I managed to get him out of Berk for a few days. Should be enough time to prevent him from knowing what happened and butting in,"

"Heh, yeah, thanks Gobber," Ruffnut said and Gobber waved the silk in front of them.

"Yeah well, for everyone's sake, your plan better work," Gobber said and walked towards the door. "Oh and, if it didn't work…I don't know anything, ya hear?"

Gobber gave them a stern look before closing the door.

"Traitor," Tuffnut crossed his arms with a huff.

"Sooo…how long do you think he's gonna take?" Ruffnut asked and Fishlegs shrugged.

"An hour or two I guess," Fishlegs answered.

"Ugh…I'm hungry," Ruffnut said and her lolled her head back.

"Me too…" Fishlegs added softly.

**…**

"So! Tell me what happened!" Hiccup said with a cheery face and clapped his hands together, startling the other Vikings in the room.

"Uh…" Tuffnut started and gave his sister a weird look. "Are you…alright, Hiccup?"

They expected to face a super angry Hiccup and not a...hopefully super happy Hiccup?

"Of course!" Hiccup said happily. He then, with a smooth motion, twirled his chair in front of the twins, promptly sat on it, crossed his good leg, clasped his hands together and put it on his leg. Meanwhile, Toothless decided to circle the twins menacingly.

"Now-" Hiccup's face suddenly turned serious. "-talk,"

The trio gulped before Tuffnut began.

"Well…" Tuffnut said. "It happened after we kind of partied-"

At the word party, Hiccup snorted. He expected it would begin with a party.

"-with the Flying Rock tribe. We were reaaaally drunk-"

Hiccup groaned and rubbed his temple again. And of course it wouldn't be complete without alcohol.

"- and then it was late. We decided to go back home-"

"With your dragon, while you were drunk? "Hiccup asked and the twins nodded. Toothless narrowed his eyes at the twins. He had seen what could happen when a drunken rider rides a dragon. It was not a pretty sight.

"How many times - and late at night too! I've issued a decree, made signs, and posters and everything else too!" Hiccup threw his arms in the air. He could feel his anger rising again. And this was just the beginning of the story too!

"Well yeah…but you know I can't stay the night there _drunk _when I'm already married," Ruffnut said and gave Fishlegs a sad look. Fishlegs gave her reassuring look.

"Then you shouldn't get DRUNK at all without your HUSBAND around! Or at least make sure that one of you isn't drunk!" Hiccup said and he glared at Tuffnut.

"M-me? What I'd do?" Tuffnut said.

Hiccup gave him a glare that could send a Monstrous Nightmare to run away.

"Oh…well, it's just that I feel bad you know…knowing that I'm the only one having fun," Tuffnut sheepishly said.

"Well I hope you enjoyed it, because after this…" Hiccup said menacingly. Toothless growled at them and the twins gulped.

"Fishlegs," Hiccup said and Fishlegs immediately sat straight.

"Ye-yes, Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked timidly.

"You're her husband. Act. Like. One," Hiccup said slowly in a low tone.

"Ri-right! Ruffnut Ingerman! You're a bad, bad, bad wife! I'm going to punish you-" Fishlegs started and Ruffnut only shivered and grinned.

"Oh yes, I am a bad-"

Hiccup face palmed before stomping on the floor with his prosthetic foot and Toothless mimicked the action with this tail.

"Get. Serious. PEOPLE!" Hiccup said loudly and they jumped in their seats. "And then what happened next?"

"Oh, right!" Tuffnut said and continued. "Well, unfortunately, there was a storm that night and we…uhh kinda went through it?"

Hiccup raised his eyebrow.

"We don't remember much actually! All we know next was we have this massive hangover and we're on a beach," Tuffnut said.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah…we found that we weren't on the Viking Kingdom anymore. Luckily, there wasn't anybody around. So they didn't saw us or our dragon. So we decided to hide Barf and Belch and…"

Hiccup was silent.

"…explore the place?" Ruffnut finished meekly.

Hiccup ran his hand over his hair. "Why?" Hiccup said in suppressed anger.

"Well, Barf and Belch were hurt – but not seriously hurt, just needed some food and rest, so…we couldn't fly back," Ruffnut answered.

"Ah, I wonder, whose fault is it then?" Hiccup asked sweetly with a smile. The twins were creep out by this.

"Yeah…we've learned our lesson. No more drunk riding!" Ruffnut said and Hiccup eyed them silently.

The twins fidgeted in their seat as the silence continued.

"Continue," Hiccup said emotionlessly.

"We then found a town nearby! So we decided that while waiting for Barf and Belch to recover, we would do some…_reconnaissance_," Tuffnut said.

"U-huh, I take it that it ended well?" Hiccup said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well…sure it didn't end well…but it's the journey that matters, right?" Tuffnut said with a hopeful smile.

"You mean?"

"We managed to lay low for most of the duration of our…_reconnaissance,_" Ruffnut said.

"Lay low and quiet?" Hiccup asked and the twins looked away.

"Mostly we just lay low," Ruffnut answered sheepishly and Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Buuuut, we used our diplomatic, ambassador, emissary-" Tuffnut counted his fingers. "- and social skills to the fullest and we managed to get the people to like us!" Tuffnut said, happy at the achievement.

"And yet we still got a war on our heads," Hiccup countered easily.

Tuffnut instantly deflated. "Yeah…"

"But, we learned a lot, Hiccup!" Ruffnut continued. "You should see their kingdom! It was awesome! They have lots of things that we couldn't get here!"

At hearing this, Tuffnut perked up. "Yeah, yeah! They have this awesome food called chocolate!" Tuffnut then reached for his satchel and took out a parcel made of brown paper before presenting it to Hiccup.

Hiccup eyed the twins for a moment before looking at the parcel. He really shouldn't be distracted but...he was a curious guy. And hopefully, the 'chocolate' would lessen his rising anger.

Hiccup sighed and took the parcel. He then carefully opened the parcel to see that something was wrapped inside.

"Oooh! What is it Hiccup?" Fishlegs said as he went near Hiccup to see what was inside.

"Something called chocolate," Hiccup said and opened the wrapping, causing a sweet smell to fill the air.

"Hmmm…chocolate!" the twins chorused happily with a sigh.

"Apparently chocolate is a…sweet smelling mud?" Hiccup said and the twins looked surprised before Hiccup showed them the melted brown chocolate.

"Oh, it melted. It was supposed to look like dirt," Tuffnut said.

"And that makes it much better," Hiccup said sarcastically.

Ruffnut elbowed her twin. "No you idiot! It was supposed to look like shaped bricks!"

Hiccup could only roll his eyes before Toothless came to smell the item in question. After a few sniff, his tongue then shot out to taste the chocolate.

His only reaction was to back away and gave the food a disgusted look.

Hiccup thought that it was appropriate.

"Oh yeah, apparently dragons do not like chocolate. They said that it was made from a…what is it?" Tuffnut said as he snapped his fingers a few times to help him remember. "Ah ha! Cacao seeds! I guess since it's a vegetable, dragons don't like it? I heard it's very bitter too,"

"Yeah, most chocolates are added milk, sugar and other stuff to make it sweet," Ruffnut added.

"U-huh," Hiccup said, still not trusting the twins as he eyed the supposedly delicious food.

"Well, you try it first," Hiccup said and showed the chocolate to Fishlegs.

"What? Why me!" Fishlegs said as he backed away.

"Because if your wife tried to poison me, she'll regret doing it," Hiccup said and Fishlegs gave Ruffnut a betrayed look.

Ruffnut gave him a stern look. "You better eat it! That thing is not cheap!"

"That is what you're concerned about?" Fishlegs asked exasperatedly.

"Trust me, when you taste that, you'd want me bathed in it before-"

Luckily, Hiccup and Tuffnut groaned loudly to drown out the words that came out.

"Ew! Ew! Ew! No, no please don't!" Hiccup said while Toothless shuddered in disgust and Tuffnut immediately dragged his chair away from his sister.

Meanwhile, Fishlegs remained quiet with a blank look on his face; probably thinking about mud (that was supposedly edible) covered Ruffnut.

"Okay!" Fishlegs quickly said and immediately dip a finger into the melted chocolate and brought it to his mouth.

Fishlegs had a blank look for a moment before his eyes widened with a shine.

"It is delicious!" Fishlegs dipped three fingers at once into the chocolate again. "But are you sure that this isn't mud with milk?"

"Pfft! No! It tastes waaay different than chocolate, trust me, I know," Tuffnut replied.

Hiccup and Fishlegs gave him a weird look.

"And why would you know how mud with milk tastes like?" Hiccup asked.

"He bought milk but spilled them on a mud," Ruffnut answered nonchalantly.

Only Hiccup gave him a weird look this time.

"Hey, that milk was expensive!" Tuffnut said and crossed his arms.

"O-kay," Hiccup said. He actually kind of expected that kind of answer from them. It showed that he either has grown accustomed to the twin's antics or they're kind of rubbing on him. He hoped that it was the former.

Hiccup was about to taste some of the chocolate until he realized that there was nothing left. He didn't think it was possible for a (supposedly) delicious mud to be (somehow) gone, cleanly at that from a paper.

"Hey!"

He turned and found Fishlegs whose cheeks and chin stained with chocolate. He was in the middle of sucking his chocolate covered fingers too. He then paused and gave Hiccup a blank look.

"What? You didn't want it," Fishlegs said.

"I didn't say that!" Hiccup said, feeling a little bit sad at being left out from tasting the (supposedly) delicious mud called chocolate.

Even his dragon had a taste!

"Don't worry, I got you covered, Hiccup!" Tuffnut said and pulled out another parcel, causing Fishlegs' eyes to instantly go wide again.

"Annnd, they say that chocolate goes well with a lot other stuff, like biscuits!" Tuffnut said and pulled out another parcel.

Meanwhile, Fishlegs had his arms outstretched like a zombie and went towards Tuffnut.

"Hey, hey, back off! You already had your fill!" Tuffnut said as he put a foot on Fishlegs' chest to stop him from getting near. Unfortunately, Fishlegs was bigger and so Tuffnut was pushed instead and had to balance his chair from toppling over.

Hiccup sighed as he ran his hand over his face. Strangely enough, he felt that his anger has reduced by watching his friends' shenanigans.

"Guys, let's get back to the issue at hand," Hiccup said and all the attention was on him again. Fishlegs quickly backed away from Tuffnut, which caused him to fall to the floor with a crash.

Fishlegs only offered a quiet 'oops' before going back to his seat.

"Oh I am hurt! I am very much hurt!" Tuffnut said and Ruffnut rolled her eyes.

Hiccup sighed again and Ruffnut decided to keep the ball rolling, so to speak. "So yeah, we spent a lot of time there. We saw new things, learned some stuff, tried a lot of foods and drinks; oh they even have hot chocolate!"

Fishlegs mouth watered while Hiccup only raised an eyebrow at them.

"It seems like you were enjoying yourselves. Kinda like going on a vacation, huh?" Hiccup said.

"Heh, yeah!" Tuffnut said as he got up to his seat again. Hiccup glared at him and he realized his error. "Eer…sorry,"

"And then," Hiccup sighed before continuing.

"Well…on our last day there, Barf and Belch have recovered and we decided that it was time to go back home. So, we decided to hit the bar one last time?" Ruffnut finished with a weak smile.

Hiccup groaned. He figured that it would end the way it started; with the twins getting drunk.

"While we were there, we heard an interesting story," Ruffnut continued and Hiccup gave her a curious look. "It turns out that the Queen of Arendelle actually has a magical power. She can control ice, snow and frost!"

Hiccup's eyes widened at this. "No…"

"Yeah! They said that two years ago, she lost control of her powers and she accidently froze her entire kingdom! Buuut, she managed to control it. Since then, she was known as the Snow Queen…or is it the Ice Queen?" Tuffnut said and rubbed his chin.

It was then Hiccup realized how severe the situation was. 'They managed to piss of a kingdom that has a Queen with ice powers?'

"What happened next?" Hiccup said as he began to rub his temple. He has the gut feeling that what the twins did was really, really bad.

"Weeell…we then heard that she wears a dress…made of ice," Ruffnut said meekly.

Hiccup perked up and sat straight. "No!" His logical mind combined with his familiarity of the twins came to one terrifying conclusion.

He hoped that it was not true.

The twins looked sheepish and avoided Hiccup's eyes. "We wanted to see it for ourselves! So we managed to get an audience with the queen,"

"How? You guys were drunk!" Hiccup asked, fearing what comes next.

"Somehow, we managed to think straight for five minutes to fool the court into thinking that we were sober. That and we have our official letter," Ruffnut said, referring to the letter that designates them as the emissaries of the Viking Kingdom.

Hiccup slumped to his chair, speechless.

"We told the royal court that we came on your orders? And we sort of told them where the Viking Kingdom is?" Tuffnut said meekly.

Hiccup slapped his hand on his forehead so hard that it made a sound that startled the other Vikings.

"And when we met her, her dress did seemed like it was made of ice. We didn't know for sure back then so we decided to test it," Ruffnut said.

Hiccup was now shaking his head repeatedly. "Noo…"

"So we managed to get close and burn it…"

"It turns out; the dress was really made of ice,"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO," Hiccup said loudly while clutching his hair and shook his his head dramatically.

"It wasn't that bad, Hiccup! She wasn't hurt! She just got really, really wet..." Ruffnut tried to console Hiccup.

But then Tuffnut had to butt in. "It's only her dignity that got _burned," _Tuffnut said with a grin as he elbowed his sister. Her sister only rolled her eyes in response.

"But hey, if you meet her in that dress...phew! You would want to burn it off!" Tuffnut added.

"Not in front of her court!" Hiccup said as he got up from his seat. The twins gave each other a shocked look before grinning at what Hiccup had implied, or they think that he implied in his state of mind.

Hiccup was pacing around his chair now and Toothless watched him with an amused expression.

"So yeah, umm…we kind of sobered up after that and the Queen was livid. She declared war and vengeance that instant before we ran away,"

"She told us that she will freeze our kingdom, my balls and your balls too before crushing it in front of our very eyes," Tuffnut said and shivered.

At this point, Hiccup slumped back to his chair with his head lolled to the back.

"Of all the places…" Hiccup said calmly. He didn't have the strength to get angy anymore. "…you couldn't pick a normal one?"

The twins looked at each other with a smile.

"No?" Tuffnut said and Hiccup sighed as he sat straight again. "Chocolate?" Tuffnut offered and Hiccup weakly took the chocolate.

"So Hiccup, what are we going to do?" Fishlegs asked while eyeing the chocolate. Hiccup, as if sensing the predatory look, stood up with his back facing the other Vikings.

"Here's what we're going to do. Fishlegs, you and the twins are going to get as many valuables we have; gold, silver, jewelries, weapons and anything else that you think will be enough as compensation for the Queen," Hiccup ordered as he unwrap the chocolate. Fishlegs began to drool but Toothless smacked him with his tail to get back his attention.

"Oh, alright! Will do Hiccup!" Fishlegs nodded enthusiastically.

"Get it done quickly and quietly. If anybody asks, tell them that it is for official business. We don't want to make the situation worse than it already is. Get Sigurd and tell him to prepare a ship. We move tomorrow," Hiccup said.

Unbeknownst to Hiccup, the twins were having a silent celebration with muted cheers, fist bumps and even hugs. Toothless gave them a weird look and was about to make a sound when Ruffnut realized this. She then took out a salmon and gave it to Toothless, who happily took it.

"This is quite good…" Hiccup said as he ate the chocolate and the twins chuckled silently.

Fishlegs could only stare in amazement as the twins celebrated again.

"_Phase two, success!" _Ruffnut whispered to Fishlegs and he could only shake his head.

He held a hand on his chest and quietly sighed with relief. He had expected for Hiccup to explode like the twins would say, but to his and the twin's relief, Hiccup took it well. However, they were not in the clear yet. The hardest part was when the twins would tell Hiccup the truth.

He hoped that Hiccup would take it as well as he did today. If not, he prayed to the gods that someone would help them.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Phase two complete! But what about the next phase?

Read and Review!


	6. Chapter 5: A Sister's Duty

**Author's Note: **As of the publishing of this chapter, this story has 132 followers, 108 favourites and 76 reviews! You guys are awesome! Thanks for the support!

* * *

**CHAPTER 5 – A Sister's Duty**

******____****...~...**

"_Destiny, Unity, Duty," Lillian, the Queen of Arendelle said to her two daughters, Anna and Elsa. _

"_It's so rhyme-y!" a five year old Anna happily said while bouncing on Elsa's bed. Elsa only giggled in response._

_Lillian smiled and shook her head and she caught Anna with her arms to sit her down._

_"Now remember well, these three virtues important," Lillian said and her daughters nodded. Lillian smiled at this. "Good girls!"_

"_Destiny represents the predetermined purpose or course in life. A constant among the variables in life," Lillian started and Anna looked confused. Elsa seemed to fare better but she still didn't grasp it fully._

_Lillian gave them a soft smile before continuing. "It means that there are special purposes waiting for everyone, and it is up to them to reach it!" Lillian poked Anna's nose and she screamed in delight._

_Elsa then looked at her hands and willed snowflakes to form. "Is it my destiny to have this power, mama?"_

"_Yes dear," Lillian placed a hand on Elsa's shoulder and Elsa turned to her. "You have a great and wonderful destiny waiting for you, my little Snow Princess!" _

_Anna clapped her hands enthusiastically at this. "Yay! Elsa is awesome!" _

_Lillian and Elsa smiled at this. _

"_You have your own destiny too, Anna," Lillian said and Anna's eyes widened at this._

"_Really? Really? What is it?" Anna hurriedly crawled to Lillian's lap._

_Lillian laughed at this. "I don't know! That's the thing about destiny; it is mysterious until the right moment comes,"_

"_Like a present?" Elsa said and Anna nodded._

"_Just like a present," Lillian smiled and her daughters returned the smile._

"_That is destiny. Now Unity is about the importance of being united and doing things together to accomplish many things. After all, it is easier and better to succeed together than alone, " Lillian asked._

"_You mean like when Elsa and I build snowman together?" Anna asked and Lillian nodded._

"_Yes! It also means being united through bonds of friendship, family, love and many more," Lillian said and Anna jumped at this._

"_We are family!" _

"_Yes!" Lillian and Elsa giggled._

"_And now, finally, Duty. It is a task, job or responsibility that everyone has and it is important to do it well," Lillian explained and Anna looked sad at this._

"_You mean like papa?" Anna asked and Lillian patted her head._

"_Yes. As a king, he has a lot of duties. But that doesn't mean that's all the duty he has. He has his duty as a father too," Lillian explained and Anna perked up at this. "Have your father neglected his duty to you girls?" _

_Elsa and Anna shook their heads._

"_What about me? Have I neglected my duty as your mother?" Lillian asked again. Her daughters shook their heads again and hugged her._

"_No! You are the best!" Anna said and Elsa nodded. Lillian giggled at this and hugged her children as well._

"_I have the best duty in the world," Lillian whispered to them._

"_But, you have your duties too," Lillian separated from them and placed her hand on her daughters' shoulders. "Your duties to each other, as sisters," _

_Anna and Elsa looked at each other with a smile before Anna hugged her sister's waist. Elsa giggled as she could only hug Anna's head. Lillian waited for them to part before giving them her final advice._

"_Now remember. United by Duty. Bound by Destiny," Lillian said and her daughters nodded._

_Just then, the door to her daughters' bed room opened and Walt, the King of Arendelle walked inside._

"_How are my little princesses doing?" Walt said with a smile._

"_Papa!" the princesses said in unison._

_****____**...~...**_

Anna stood in front of the large painting of her parents as she remembered their advice. Luckily for her, after her freezing and thawing, she managed to regain back her original childhood memory.

Unfortunately, it also made her realize the pain that she had caused her sister during their isolation.

"_Do you wanna build a snowman? It doesn't have to be a snowman,"_

"_Go away Anna!"_

Ouch.

Anna internally cringed. Well, it wasn't her fault! Okay, not entirely her fault but she didn't know the truth back then!

Oh well, at least building a snowman wasn't a painful experience for them any more.

Anna took a deep breath and faced the painting of her parents.

"Papa, mama, here I am again!" Anna started. "Now, don't worry, I still remember the virtues!"

Anna then started to pace around. "About my destiny, well, I'm still not entirely sure about that. I know that we can have a lot of destinies, like my destiny with Kristoff! Well…I hope my destiny is with him," Anna looked crestfallen at this for a moment before she perked up again.

"But! That's for later! My destiny isn't that great compared to Elsa's anyway. Anyhow! Unity! Well, I'm happy to report that Elsa and I are still united even after all the crap that we've been through!" Anna said happily.

"Especially the crap that I gave her…," she added slowly and looked away for a moment before turning to look at her parents again.

She could imagine her father giving her a sigh while her mother only shook her head with a smile. "I know, I know, I've told you guys about it before, but I can't help it! I feel bad when I remember about it," Anna said with a sigh.

"Okay! Moving on! I'm also happy to report that our sisterly relationship is improving! Much better than last time for sure! No more awkward talks during meals or when we do other stuff!" Anna reported happily.

"Well…except that I still haven't managed to convince her to bathe together," Anna rubbed her chin in thought. "Don't worry mama, I'll work on that!" Anna flashed her mother a grin.

Anna imagined her father shaking his head and her mother giggled at her.

"Okay, now on to duty! I think I did a good job in doing my duty as a princess!" Anna said and her chest puffed out with pride. "I acted as an intermediary between Elsa and the people! I often go out, play with the kids, meet the people and hear about their problems and oh…" Anna leaned in closer and whispered, "…gossips too!"

"I even help Elsa with royal affairs too! I would entertain the officials from other places when Elsa got caught up in a meeting or doing other queenly duties," Anna said with smile.

"But that's my duty as the princess! Now, I have my duty as her sister!" Anna sad in a rather serious tone and she crossed her arms. "Ever since we got the proposal from the Vikings, she's been restless, nervous and worrying herself sick,"

Anna imagined her parents giving her a worried look as well.

"But don't worry! I know what to do!" Anna said and saluted the painting. "And so, I shall embark on a mission to cheer Elsa! Wish me success!"

Anna nodded and turned around crisply before walking out of the door to begin her mission.

If the painting were alive, Lillian and Walt would have smiled, knowing that their daughter have each other to face any challenges that would come.

**…**

"There she is, look at her!" Anna whispered to herself as she peeped through the keyhole of Elsa's bedroom.

Elsa has been trying to make herself busy…okay, busier these past few days to distract herself from the Viking issue at hand. Since the date of the Viking's arrival was drawing near (they could arrive tomorrow), Elsa has become much more restless. Elsa never looked as bad as this before…well except when that Eternal Winter mishap.

Unfortunately, Elsa liked to think that she hid her worries well.

"She thinks I don't know about her nightmares? She thinks she could hide it from me and Kristoff while it is so obvious? She thinks she could push me away, again?" Anna said with a vengeance in her voice and manic look on her face.

In the two years since Anna got her family back, their life didn't just magically become perfect for them like some kind of fairy tale. There were bumps on the road to recovery but they managed it together just fine, until now that is. The Viking issue was a huge bump in their life but Elsa decided to tackle it alone instead of discussing it with her or Kristoff.

It just pissed her off! They had agreed that there will be no more secrets between them! No more locked doors! It was Elsa herself that decided Anna to be included in the meeting about the Viking issue and now suddenly, she locks her out from it?

Anna grumbled incoherently when Gerda, who had the luck to walk in on Anna while she was busy doing her…_reconnaissance,_ gave her a weird look. Not that Anna noticed anyway.

Gerda cleared her throat but Anna only gave a quiet 'what?' in response.

"My dear, what are you doing? I thought you stopped peeping on her a long time ago," Gerda asked.

Anna stood straight and faced Gerda. "It is time for the Royal Entertainment Master to do her duty!"

Gerda gave her a small smile. "Ah, so that makes you the jester then! Do you want me to fetch your jester outfit before you do your duty?"

Anna's face went red and she pouted.

"I-I'm not a jester! Forget what I said! I'm going!" Anna huffed and turned around to face the door and Gerda chuckled.

Anna opened the door and marched straight to her sister's desk. Gerda gave the sisters a smile as she closed the door.

Elsa didn't even give her a look when she addressed her. "Hello Anna. Quite a ruckus you made in front of my room,"

Anna looked crossed and placed her hands on her hips. "Get up,"

Elsa didn't look up when she replied. "What for, Anna? I'm bu-"

"Get. Up. From. That. Chair," Anna said dangerously and this got Elsa's attention.

Elsa gave her sister a worried and scared look. She wondered what has gotten into her. "Are you alright, sister?"

"I'm fine. It's you who are not," Anna said and Elsa knew what she meant.

Elsa sighed and leaned to her chair. "Look Anna, I'm fine-"

"Tut tut tut! No words from you!" Anna wiggled her finger at the Queen. "Only actions! Now get up!"

Elsa was still in her chair as she eyed her sister for a moment. "Anna, I'm very busy-"

"No you're not. I know that you've finished your paperwork for the day and you've been drawing shapes instead!" Anna countered and Elsa flushed at being caught. She quickly covered the evidence with her hand, however futile that was.

"Now, we can sit here all day long and you can throw all the excuses you can think of and I can counter them just as easy. But that's not fun. _So get up!_" Anna said, her eyes blazed with determination.

Elsa gulped and sighed. How she wished one of her officials would come in and pester her with work. At least it would save her from a determined Anna and determined Anna is scary.

After all, she did brave the blizzard that Elsa (unknowingly) created to get her sister back home. And she did it alone at first and while wearing her royal dress too!

"Alright?" Elsa meekly said and slowly got up.

"Now get away from that desk and get over here," Anna ordered and pointed at the spot near her. Elsa hesitantly complied, not wanting to leave the only thing that could stand between her and Anna.

Once Elsa has reached her destination, Anna quickly went behind her sister.

"Anna? What are you doing?" Elsa asked as she got goose bumps in anticipating what her sister would do.

Suddenly, a pair of slender, yet strong (Elsa thought that Anna might have spent too much time with Kristoff) arms wrapped around her body. The next thing she knew was that she was flung into the air (quite high too!).

The room then was filled with Elsa's startled screame as she flew for a second and landed on her bed, with her chest facing down.

She turned quickly and was about to scold Anna when she screamed again as Anna jumped on her.

The sight of Anna jumping on her was short but Elsa would remember for her entire life. It was the look of a maniac!

Anna landed on the bed on her knees and quickly sat on Elsa's lap to prevent her legs from moving too much. Elsa wanted to push Anna away but Anna's left hand expertly grabbed her arms and pinned it over her head.

Elsa was now Anna's prisoner of war.

"Anna?" Elsa asked quietly, her voice quivering with anticipation and little dash of fear. She had never seen her sister like this before.

Anna narrowed her eyes at Elsa before answering. "You owe me a lot of things, sister dearest! Hugs, snow related activities, baths, tickles and many more!"

"Wait, tickles?"

"And I demand payment, with interest!" Anna said and she showed her right hand's wriggling fingers at Elsa.

Elsa could only look at the offending hand in fear. "Anna, don't do this! We can talk!"

"Nope! Don't want to talk!" Anna said with a happy face.

And then she cracked her neck.

There were many things that Elsa regretted in her life…and allowing Anna to go ice harvesting with Kristoff was one of them.

"Now let's do this! The tickle monster demands a sacrifice!" Anna said as she attacked Elsa's side.

The result was spontaneous as Elsa laughed and squirmed as she tried her best to escape and all the while begging for Anna to stop.

Of course, Anna, or the tickle monster wouldn't listen! If anything, it fed the monster even more!

"Coochie-coochie-coo!" Anna said with a sinister smile on her face. Oh, she was enjoying this! After all, it wasn't fair for her sister to get all the fun.

After a few minutes, the tickling stopped and Anna watched the result of her work. Elsa's face was flushed, her hair was a mess and she was breathing heavily. She looked so vulnerable!

Anna's face went red at seeing her sister like this. It made her question her sexuality for a moment. If only she didn't have Kristoff and Elsa wasn't her sister…

Wait, what was she thinking? Focus Anna, focus!

Anna shook her head and a sinister grin formed on her face. "Hmm, I wonder, are your armpits ticklish?" Anna asked the rather rhetorical question and wriggled her fingers again.

"Of course!" Elsa could only say as Anna tickled her armpits and she laughed again.

Anna stopped the assault and brought her hand in front of Elsa. "Now, which one should I tickle next, hmm?" Anna said and brought her hand to Elsa's left armpit.

"No, please…" Elsa weakly said as her head followed the hand.

Anna raised an eyebrow at this and brought her hand to Elsa's right and her head followed. She chuckled before resuming her attack again for a short while. After that, she repeated the same thing; Elsa's head would follow her hand no matter where it goes, as if it could stop the offending thing!

It was so funny! She could make Elsa shake or nod her head if she wanted to! Oh, why must her sister be this cute?

Of course, this won't spare her sister from the tickle assault and Anna continued again. This time however, her face was above Elsa's.

Elsa realized something in between her laugher and pleading; Anna has a rather large (and perverted) grin on her face! It wouldn't be that bad if it wasn't aimed at her or when it was above her face.

"Anna!" Elsa tried to say. "Anna, you're-" she laughed again. "-drooling!"

And then, Elsa saw it with horror as a thin line of drool made its way towards her face.

"KYAAAAAAA!"

**…**

"That was disgusting!" Elsa said as she wiped her face with the sleeve of her dress. Anna was clutching her sides as she laughed in response.

Elsa wanted to say more but she was content with hearing her sister's laughter and she smiled. It took a minute for Anna to stop laughing before she panted in exhaustion.

"Oohh, why am I'm the one laughing so hard?" Anna asked and Elsa huffed. Anna chuckled before poking her sister on the side.

Elsa let out a small 'eep' before glaring at her sister. "Stop that! It hurts now because of you!"

Anna made a funny face and stuck at tongue at her sister. Elsa realized this, quickly grabbed it with her now really cold hand.

"Agh! Col! Col! Col!" Anna flailed around as Elsa chuckled.

"What was that? I don't understand you. Cold got your tongue?" Elsa said with a grin and released her hold. Anna quickly withdrew her tongue and she pouted. Elsa laughed at this and Anna smiled before joining in.

After a minute, the laughter died down and both sisters sighed.

"So, what's next?" Elsa asked and Anna only grinned in reply.

**…**

Anna could be very stubborn when she's determined to do something, especially when it was about her loved ones and Elsa loved that part of her. It was what saved Elsa after all.

Thus, Elsa learned that it was easier to give in to her whims…_sometimes. _Well, she couldn't indulge her all the time or she'll spoil the girl rotten!

Anna was dragging Elsa by the hand as they were running through the castle, all the while Anna was excitedly talking about their plans for today. Elsa laughed and told her sister to slow down but of course Anna wouldn't listen.

Elsa then remembered the time when Anna would drag her to do activities together when they were young. Anna would drag her for almost everything; to show what she discovered, to play, to what she did and so on.

Elsa smiled as they headed towards the town. _"Some things just never change," _Elsa thought gratefully.

The rest of the day was spent doing various activities that a normal person would do, which to Elsa, was quite refreshing.

First, they went to the market to see the various items on sale. The market, which was noisy on normal days, became even livelier when the Royal Sisters arrived. Anna would show her items, trinkets, food and fruits from different parts of the world. Needless to say, by the time they were finished at the market, Elsa was wearing different necklaces, bracelets, rings and a flower crown of all things.

She looked ridiculous with the clashing fashion items but she didn't mind. A lot of people chuckled at seeing her and gave her understanding looks when they saw the mastermind that was dragging her.

Along the way, they were greeted by many children and Elsa gave them the trinkets she acquired from the market. The children were delighted and the look on their faces made her smile.

They then went to the clothing store but not to buy expensive clothing that the owner offered, but commoners clothing. The owner could only shake his head with a smile at seeing the sisters being worked up about normal clothes.

They had lunch at one of the cafés in town that Anna hasn't tried yet (Anna had tried almost all the café in town). Their next target would of course be the chocolate store, in which several children had the brilliant idea to follow them in. This meant that the sisters ended up buying most of the chocolates to share with the children, much to their delight and the store owner's.

Of course, having eaten the chocolates, the children were in a rather…_active state. _Elsa pitied the parents that would have to deal with them but decided to help them a bit. After all, it was _partly _her fault.

Elsa already knew what Anna had planned for them; a snow day in the town square. Elsa didn't need any more coaxing as she covered the town square with snow and the children squealed in delight as they attacked the snow.

Elsa grinned when an idea came to her. She sent a stream of snow down in her sister's shirt and she squeaked rather loudly, much to her embarrassment and Elsa's laughter. Anna retaliated with a snowball, but fighting against the Snow Queen with her own element?

Elsa stopped the ball mid-flight and sends it back to Anna's shocked face. Elsa giggled when Anna glared at her with a mischievous smile. Anna then rallied everyone against her and soon Elsa found herself to be the target of every snowball in the area.

There was too many for Elsa to stop but she did give them a good fight before she was covered in thick snow herself. However, Elsa decided that she couldn't, no, she wouldn't allow herself to be bested by her own element!

With a wave of her hand, every attacker's body except for their heads was covered in snow shaped like a snowman.

"A Snow Queen is nothing without her _snow people, _no?" Elsa said with a smile and her snow people laughed.

**…**

"Let's take a bath together!" Anna said excitedly and Elsa just gave her a blank look.

"What? That's! No?" Elsa replied meekly, blush creeping on her cheeks.

But of course, Anna was not to be denied!

"Come on! It has been ages since we bathe together!" Anna said.

Elsa then remembered the memories of them bathing together when they were little. Her mother would like to bathe them together as it was easier and saves time. Sometimes, it was Elsa that has to bathe her sister when their parents weren't around.

While Elsa was visiting the memory lane, Anna had a devious look on her face. She quietly and quickly sneaked behind her sister and wriggled her fingers.

"Or are you scared of showing me your _Royal Mountains_?" Anna said and promptly grabbed her sister's...Royal Mountains, causing her to squeak.

"You know, I heard people said that Arendelle has beautiful _mountains," _Anna said with a cat-like smile and wiggled her eyebrows as she squeezed her sister's Royal Mountains a few times.

Elsa's face was full on red now and Anna could feel her sister shivering but alas, she decided to give one final squeeze.

"ANNA!"

**…**

Elsa decided to show Anna what happened if you dared to climb the Snow Queen's Royal Mountains without preparations.

Well, at least Anna got to bathe with her sister again, so it was worth it.

**…**

The last activity that Anna planned for the both of them was just a sleepover.

They used to share a room when they were little. They even shared a bed when Anna got scared of the storm and thunder. Or sometimes just for the heck of it.

They used to share everything back then and Elsa understood that Anna wanted to do the same again. She wanted to but…

Anna has a lot to share and a lot to give. She was warm, had an energetic aura, brave and can brighten a person's life with her presence.

Elsa had nothing to share. She had caused so much pain to her sister and she didn't want to hurt her any more than she could. She had taken so much. By handling her own problems and ensuring that her sister had a good and happy life was the only thing that she could give to Anna.

Elsa sighed but she felt Anna squeezing her hand and she opened her eyes to look at Anna.

Tired from the previous activities, they didn't talk at all and had just settled into Elsa's bed, facing each other. However, the both of them knew that no words were necessary at this point.

"_No words from you! Only actions!"_

Elsa smiled. Her sister was good at that.

"Thank you," Elsa said softly and kissed her sister's sleeping forehead. Anna only smiled in return.

"_But, you have your duties too. Your duties to each other, as sisters," _

True. It was just that, they each have their own way of doing their duty.

Regardless,before today, Elsa was scared of the coming Vikings and she had nightmares about them almost every night. But tonight, she was sure that she would sleep soundly and tomorrow, she would be brave; for her kingdom and for her sister.

Little did she know, her bravery would be tested to the very limit.

**…**

The next day, the Snow Queen finally meets the Viking King...and he was furious.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hiccup and Elsa finally meets, but at a cliff…if you get what I mean. Am I evil?

Since the King and Queen of Arendelle didn't have a name, I decided to give them. See if you can find where I got the idea for their names from.

Read and Review!


	7. Chapter 6: The Strongest Piece

**Author's Note: **Wow! A few hours after the previous chapter was up, the reviews count boosted from 70+ to 100 in an instant! Imagine to my pleasant surprise when I checked my email and found that a large number of reviews were waiting to be read. Thanks you guys!

Now, the previous chapter I admit might have crossed the line a little bit, but I hope not too much that I have to up the rating (although in the future, I might need to). It was just me taking a crack at the many, many Elsanna fics that are dominating the Frozen section. Hue hue hue.

Some readers have been asking where was Kristoff and especially Olaf? Well, to tell you the truth, it is hard for me to write about Olaf because almost every time he appears, something funny and cute was expected from him and it's uhh…I dunno how to write him!

Oh and this chapter got some swearing.

**ShadowKissedGallagherGirlLexia****: **While it does look filler-ish, it actually isn't. A lot of the elements in the previous chapter will be used again in the future. You'll just have to wait and see it.

* * *

**CHAPTER 6 – The Strongest Piece In The Game**

**A day before the Viking arrival**

"_Kristoff, I have activities planned today for Elsa and I," Anna said, looking away and Kristoff gave her a knowing smile._

"_I get it, you don't want me to get in the way between you two," Kristoff said and Anna gave him a happy look._

"_Thank you so much for understanding! Oh and take Olaf with you! I love you, bye!" Anna quickly gave Kristoff a quick kiss on the lips before sprinting away._

"_Wha-wait!" Kristoff said but Anna was already gone. "I love you too," Kristoff sighed with a smile._

"If the sisters are going to have their bonding time, we can have our own!" Olaf the snowman happily said. "Just the two of us! Like brothers!"

Sven made a disapproving sound and he glanced at Olaf for a moment.

"Hey, don't forget about me!" Kristoff said for Sven.

"Sorry buddy! Won't happen again! Pinky twig promise!" Olaf showed his pinky twig and Sven snorted.

Kristoff smiled before he asked again. "Sure boding time. What are we going to do actually?"

"Like singing –" Olaf started but Kristoff cut him off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there, little guy! I don't sing," Kristoff said and Olaf gave him a sad look.

"But, but, you sing with Sven! And even Sven sing!" Olaf said and Kristoff stared at the snowman for a moment.

"Uuhh…okay, I guess we can do that," Kristoff said and Olaf cheered.

"Yay! And then we can cook marshmallows- oh not Marshmallow!" Olaf said and Kristoff only shook his head.

Kristoff and Olaf was riding on his sled carried by Sven and was heading towards Elsa's ice castle in the Northern Mountains. Since his presence wasn't needed by the Royal Sisters and he didn't have any ice harvesting work to do today, he figured that he'd stock up the ice castle's food supply and probably visit the trolls afterwards.

Before long, the trio reached the staircase that connects to the ice castle. A bridge ramp can be seen beside the staircase to allow sled access and Kristoff directed Sven towards the ramp. A few moments later, the trio was in front of the castle doors.

Kristoff and Olaf got off the sled and went near a large pile of snow, when suddenly it came to life. The snow pile formed into a large and menacing looking snowman and it roared at them.

Sven looked bored, Kristoff only had a lopsided smile and Olaf had a happy face. Still, the roar covered them in light snow powder.

"Marshmallow! How are you doing little brother? Although you're bigger than me…" Olaf said but jumped happily and hugged Marshmallow's leg.

"Hey there big guy," Kristoff greeted as he wiped away snow from his face.

"Heeeeey," Marshmallow, the large guardian snowman said.

When Elsa resumed her position as the Queen of Arendelle, she realized that throwing away the crown was a bad idea. Fortunately, her second snowman, Marshmallow had found the crown. Unfortunately, he also grew rather fond of it.

Elsa then had the idea to substitute the crown with one made from ice. She also made other decorations such as badges for the snowman and designated him as the Royal Ice Castle Guardian. He was very happy at that.

As such, Marshmallow looked a lot more…refined to say the least compared to the first time Kristoff met the snowman. He now has a crown on his head and multiple snowflake badges on his chest.

"Anything happened lately?" Kristoff asked as Olaf climbed the large snowman.

"No," Marshmallow said and Olaf took his head off and plastered it on the larger snowman's shoulder.

"Look Kristoff! Marshmallow now has two heads! Just like that two headed dragon you guys told me!" Olaf said and Kristoff shook his head while Marshmallow gave his brother an annoyed look.

"Okay, let's do some inventory check," Kristoff said and pulled out a rather large package from his sled and gestured with his hand towards the door. "Marshmallow, after you,"

"To the door!" Olaf said and his headless body slid off from Marshmallow, bolted towards the closed door and crashed into it, causing it to break into its individual pieces.

Marshmallow gave an annoyed huff and walked towards the door, taking great care into not stepping on the smaller snowman's body pieces. He then opened the door and Kristoff followed suit.

Once inside, Kristoff paused to take a look at the inside of the castle. The castle was now larger and more intricate than the first time Elsa built it. Back then, even though it was large, a lot of the size was just…empty space. It only had a grand staircase, hall, balcony, a master room and that was it. For a castle, it was weird to have so little accommodation. Even a lord's mansion was more grand.

Now however, it has been upgraded to utilize almost all the space available. Not that space was a problem as Elsa can expand the castle easily. The castle or as Olaf like to call it, 'Elsa's Fortress of Solitude', now has guest rooms, kitchen, lounge, and observation tower that expanded into the top of the Northern Mountain and many more.

"I'll never get tired of watching this masterpiece," Kristoff said as Marshmallow was chasing Sven and Olaf's still headless body.

Kristoff then headed towards the kitchen to begin his job. Now you would think that a kitchen made of ice would be a very bad idea...well it was at first. That was until Elsa discovered that she could make magical ices.

For example, she could make colored ice, super strong ice, ice that isn't slippery or sticky, ice that won't freeze water that it comes in contact with, crystal ice (ice that doesn't give off cold and resembled crystals more than ice) and even ice that cannot melt! Although they speculated that hotter or magical flame can melt it.

Thus, Elsa, aided by Anna, decided to have some fun with her powers. The result was that the ice castle was no longer entirely blue as Anna and Kristoff agreed that just seeing one color for a long period of time can be…detrimental to the mind. It now has different colors for different parts of the castle. On the outside it is still blue but the inside was of differing color. Now the inside of the ice castle resembled more of a crystal castle.

Furthermore, as Elsa's mastery over her power grew, she can make parts of the castle comfortably warm enough for a naked human to survive.

Kristoff arrived at the kitchen and took a look around to see what was amiss. It was clean, like its master of course.

The kitchen if anything looked as if it was made from black crystal than ice. The kitchen counter's top was black with intricate flowery patterns similar to the ones on the sister's royal dresses and it has four matching black chairs on one side of the counter. The rest of the kitchen appliance followed the same theme of black colored ice and flowery pattern inside of them. Thankfully, the walls weren't entirely black.

However, the most interesting part of the kitchen was a tall black closet on one corner of the kitchen. It was the icebox, one of Elsa's masterpieces. It was a closet that is cold on the inside and thus is able to preserve any food put inside for a long period of time. Of course, using Elsa's power, the long period of time equals indefinitely.

Elsa of course, had assigned the brightest minds in Arendelle to try and replicate the icebox without using her powers but, it proved to be harder than they thought it would be.

Kristoff went to the icebox and opened it to reveal the contents inside. The icebox was very close to empty of the easier foods to eat such as fruits, pastries, vegetables, drinks, breads and so on. Kristoff shrugged as he opened the lower compartment that holds the fish and meat. He smiled as he found out that all the meat and filleted fish were gone except for a whole fish that remained untouched.

"Elsa, Elsa, still refuse to work with whole fish, eh?" Kristoff said as he took out the fish and examined them. "Still good, guess this will be lunch then since Elsa won't be using this. Besides, I've brought more whole fishes anyway," Kristoff shrugged and began his work of replenishing the food stock inside the icebox.

The ice castle has become Elsa's (and sometimes Anna's) getaway place when she needed to relax or just wanting some time alone. It wasn't Elsa's idea in the first place but Anna had argued that Elsa would still find way to do work when she's in the royal castle. Elsa was reluctant at first but soon found out that the sense of freedom in the ice castle was indeed relaxing.

Elsa also started to learn how to cook as evidenced by the depleted stock of food. However, she was reluctant to work with whole animals.

"Sooo, Kristoff," Olaf said as she sat down near Kristoff.

"Yeah?"

"You know, I've been thinking," Olaf rubbed his nonexistent chin. "What do you think about ice?"

Kristoff raised an eyebrow at Olaf. "It's great?"

"That's all? You have to be more specific than that, Mr. Royal Ice Master and Deliverer!" Olaf egged him on.

Kristoff wanted to ask why he was asking this but he learned that sometimes, it was easier to answer Olaf's questions first before asking your own if you want to make sense of things. "Well, it's beautiful and wonderful yet at the same time dangerous,"

"Like Elsa?" Olaf asked and Kristoff glanced at the snowman for a moment.

"Yeah, why?" Kristoff asked. Olaf is many things; and unpredictable is one of them. For a seemingly naïve character, he can be surprisingly deep if he wanted to.

"Well…"Olaf drawled. "I dunno, I mean, you like ice, your job is about ice and all. So, I've been thinking, what would happen if you meet Elsa first when she ran away here?"

Kristoff stopped what he was doing as he thought of the situation. "Uuhh…"

What would happen? The answer was obvious; he would fall for Elsa. After all, she was the embodiment of ice, one of the things that his life revolves around.

Kristoff shook his head. Ice used to be everything to him, but now, it's Anna.

"I might fall for her, but I've met Anna first. I guess it was destiny?" Kristoff answered and Olaf looked satisfied. "Besides, if I didn't meet Anna, it's possible that she won't make it far,"

"Oh," Olaf said and looked down. "Oh yeah,"

Kristoff realized this and sighed. "Why are you asking this, Olaf?"

"Well, I feel bad you know. Anna got you as boyfriend but Elsa doesn't have any. It makes me sad," Olaf said and Kristoff gave him a soft smile.

"She might not have one right now, but one day she will, trust me. Especially if Anna has anything to say in the matter," Kristoff said and Olaf brightened again.

"It's just…it won't be easy for her," Kristoff said in a whisper.

**…**

**The day of the Viking arrival**

Vikings are…_tough_ people. Yep; tough, rough, hard, stubborn, brave, harsh, too manly to a fault sometimes (okay, a lot of times!) and among other things associated with the word _tough. _

But really, you can't blame them for being that way; they have to be. How couldn't they? Their culture was about battle, glorious deaths and even more battle in the afterlife. The place they lived in was one of the harshest in the world and also home to many dangerous creatures that constantly attack them. Not to mention of the constant raids from rival tribes who were also Vikings.

Sigurd Eriksson hated raids with all his being. Fortunately, those were in the past.

Anyway, it wasn't a stretch to say that Vikings like to do things rather…roughly.

Want proof? The Vikings fought the dragons for more than 300 years and no Viking has ever managed to tame one during that time. It wasn't that they never tried; they used force to make them submit after all. It was just…they never figured that for such deadly creatures, you would have to use…_softer _ways.

Most Vikings don't do _soft_.

That was why it was quite hard for most of the Vikings to accept Hiccup as their king. Using more wits, wiles and brain more than muscle or force, he was viewed in the same light as the God of Mischief, Loki than the God of Thunder, Thor (who Vikings aspire to be). In other words, they see Hiccup as _soft._ It didn't help that his body looked soft too (mostly because he wasn't as muscular as the Vikings thought he would be).

Well, sure Hiccup was _soft, _but that doesn't mean he can't be _tough_.

Still, Hiccup was mostly soft at times.

Sigurd Eriksson was a 22 years old Viking with a tall and muscular build, blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair. He was Hiccup's personal bodyguard and currently, his king has been fretting in front of the mirror for half-an hour now. Well, at least it was an improvement over his nervous breakdown during the voyage here.

"Relax Hiccup, you can do this!" Hiccup slapped his cheeks a few times.

Sigurd chuckled at this. "You weren't this nervous when meeting the other chiefs for the first time,"

"Well, the other chiefs can't freeze an entire kingdom on a whim, so yeah," Hiccup replied.

"Point taken," Sigurd shrugged. "Just relax. It won't help if you look scared. She might take advantage of it,"

Hiccup sighed and shrugged. "You're right. I just hope that I'd don't have to do anything ridiculous to appease her,"

Sigurd grinned. "Like allowing her to freeze your balls and Tuffnut's and watch her crush it in front of your very eyes?"

Hiccup groaned.

"Well, it's not like it's loss anyway," Sigurd continued and Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure the future of the Viking Kingdom will be more productive without Tuffnut's spawn…and you hardly use yours anyway,"

Hiccup grinned. "Oh ho ho, you sir, are playing a very dangerous game,"

Sigurd shrugged.

"And I see you're getting good with the art of sarcasm," Hiccup said and tried to push his bangs to the back of his head.

"Well, I remembered my king doesn't like me being quiet. I was creepy he said. Besides, I learned from the best," Sigurd replied.

"Oh now flattery, hm?" Hiccup said and gave up trying to style his hair and sighed. "How long till we reach port?"

"Half an hour," Sigurd answered simply.

Hiccup was about to speak when a knock on the door interrupted him. "Come in,"

The door opened to reveal the Viking twins and Hiccup turned away from the mirror to face them.

"So you guys know the procedure, right?" Hiccup asked and Ruffnut fidgeted before speaking.

"Urmm…actually, we have something to tell you," Ruffnut said and Hiccup sighed.

"Is it more important than the situation we're in now?" Hiccup asked and the twins nodded mutely.

Hiccup gave them a blank look as he steeled himself. What could be more important than this? He hoped that it wasn't bad.

"Is it good news or bad?" Hiccup asked.

The twins avoided contact and fidgeted nervously. "Both actually," Tuffnut said. "The good news is that…there isn't a possible war at all,"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at them. "What?"

"The bad news is that…we…tricked you," Ruffnut added.

Hiccup was silent for a moment before he groaned into his hands. A part of him was truly relieved that there won't be a possible war on his kingdom, but another part of him was furious that he was tricked in such manner. Hiccup didn't mind being tricked sometimes for good fun but, there is a line that you mustn't cross, even for the sake of good hearted fun.

Another part of him was greatly disappointed that his trusted friends would do something like this to him.

Suffice to say, the amount of negative emotion he was feeling outweighs the positive ones.

"I…I don't know what to say or think right now. I'm…I'm just really disappointed in you two. I almost make a fool of myself in front of a foreign Queen…it is funny to you guys?" Hiccup said in a disappointed tone.

"We didn't want you to humiliate you so that's why we're telling you the truth," Ruffnut said and Hiccup sighed.

"You didn't want to humiliate me, but you did fool me, so I guess, mission accomplished?" Hiccup said and clapped his hands slowly.

The twins looked hurt but Hiccup didn't care. Why should he? He was the victim here.

"Whatever," Hiccup waved a hand at the twins. "I guess we'll get a good laugh at this in 10 years or more," he said. "Turn the ship around, we're going back home,"

The twins then gulped before speaking.

"We can't," Ruffnut said and Hiccup glared at her.

"Why not?" Hiccup sighed. "I don't have the mood to deal with anymore of your shenanigans,"

"Because…because we did met the Queen," Ruffnut replied and Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "We told her that you want her hand in marriage,"

Hiccup was speechless for a moment as he analysed what the twins had told him. He then understood what had happened.

He was tricked twice!

Before this disappointment was the dominant emotion he was feeling, and now, it's just anger.

The twins didn't want to humiliate him by making him apologize for something that didn't happen; they want him to court the Queen. They knew that Hiccup would bring valuables under the guise of compensation where in reality, those are gifts to court the Queen.

"What the…" Hiccup finally said. "What were you thinking? Playing matchmaker behind my back, again? And this time with a foreign Queen?"

"What, do you think that you're actually doing me a favour? Is that it?" Hiccup began to ramble but Tuffnut cut in.

"We don't actually expect you to marry her!" Tuffnut said and Hiccup gave him a ridiculous look.

"Oh really? Then what are you trying to do actually, hmm? Is there anything else you want to tell me, anything else that you want to add to my misery?" Hiccup said angrily.

"We just want to get you here! We know that if we tell you the truth that there's no war, you'd leave instantly!" Ruffnut answered.

That was true; he did want to turn back.

"What for? What would you achieve by getting me here?" Hiccup asked but he has the feeling that he already knew the answer.

"We want you…to reconsider your closed door policy, to consider trading with Arendelle!" Ruffnut answered.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at them. "This again? We've discussed it many times before and my answer will always be the same!"

"And that's the problem, Hiccup!" Ruffnut said. "Do you think that what you're doing is going to help the kingdom in the long run?"

Hiccup only glared in response.

"See? You yourself know that it won't! Then why are you still being stubborn?!" Ruffnut continued.

Hiccup closed the distance between himself and Ruffnut and glared down at her. "I did this to protect the kingdom,"

"Yeah, you're protecting the kingdom from the evils of the outside world," Tuffnut said almost sarcastically and Hiccup turn his glare at him. "But at this rate, the kingdom would destroy itself!"

"What makes your kingdom, Hiccup? Who are you actually protecting?" Tuffnut asked. "Is it the dragons or the Vikings?"

Hiccup snorted. "Both of course-"

"It doesn't seem that way to the others! They think that you prized the dragons more than the people!" Tuffnut said. "They even think that you don't have any interest with woman any more, and that you'd rather fuck a dragon!"

Hiccup backed away from them. "Oh come on! It's been only a year after Astrid was missing!"

The other Vikings avoided Hiccup's gaze for a moment.

"_They couldn't find her body, so she must be alive! She's a strong woman…so she'll make it back…she have to…" _

"No, screw this! I don't care what you or anybody else thought about me!" Hiccup said and turned away from them.

"Really, Hiccup? You don't care when there's talk about a possible coup?" Tuffnut said and Hiccup was silent.

"What?"

Tuffnut closed his eyes and sighed. "People are starving and you're making them choose between their family and the dragons, Hiccup. And there are still a lot of people that's on the fence or outright hates dragons like Mildew. What's more, there are talks about individuals that are waiting to take the throne from you. They said that the unification was convenient for those individuals,"

Hiccup turned to face the twins again. "And you decided to tell me now?"

"We don't want you to worry and become even more paranoid! Even if we told you about it, you'd just deny the problem like it never existed!" Tuffnut replied.

Hiccup closed the distance again. "That is for me to decide. The funny thing is, you've actually made me more paranoid now. I can't even trust you two anymore,"

Tuffnut looked angry at this. "We did this to help you! We did this for the kingdom! We did this because we care!"

Hiccup snorted at this. "Could've have fooled me,"

Tuffnut's eyes blazed with anger as he grabbed Hiccup's shirt. "Fuck you! You think you're the only that have lost someone? You think you're the only one that has been doing the all the sacrifice around here, hmm?"

Hiccup's eyes widened for moment before it hardened back to stare at Tuffnut.

"We've paid as much as you have to get here! We've sacrificed to put you on the throne that _you_ wanted! So don't you fucking dare insinuate that we don't care!" Tuffnut said and released his grip.

"Hiccup," Ruffnut said but Hiccup didn't look at her. "We know what we did was wrong, and we're sorry. We did it because we didn't have a choice. You – you've changed, Hiccup. You used to be a visionary. You weren't scared of the future and the world! Now, just want to hide from it…you've become afraid…"

The room was silent as Hiccup glared at Tuffnut who returned the gaze. After a moment, Tuffnut turned away. "Let's go, sis,"

Ruffnut nodded and the twins got out of the room, leaving a still furious Hiccup and Sigurd.

The room was silent again as Sigurd pondered what to do. He could just let Hiccup cool down…that is if he is cooling down after all. Or he could nudge Hiccup in the right direction. Still, he figured he'd give Hiccup a moment to collect himself, hopefully.

If Hiccup wasn't so angry at the moment, the twin's final words might have an impact on him. Unfortunately, there was just too many for Hiccup to process at the moment. It didn't help that his anger was clouding his judgement as well.

He was made a complete fool. Played like a puppet on strings!

His trusted inner circle plotted behind his back. At the moment, Hiccup didn't care if they did it for the good of his kingdom; they still went behind his back.

His own people, his own kingdom was still ungrateful for all that he's done for them!

However, the truth then reared its head and it only made Hiccup angrier.

The truth was that the all of the problem came from him. None of this would ever happen if…

"_You've become afraid…"_

Normally, when he was in sound mind, his logic and understanding nature would acknowledge that he has indeed gotten afraid over the time. That all the problems did indeed came from him.

However, anger, pride and his inherent stubborn nature clouded his judgement, making him deflect any blame to himself and justifying his actions.

'Me, afraid? The fuck! If I wasn't afraid, I wouldn't be king!' Hiccup thought angrily.

A voice then could be heard announcing their arrival at Arendelle's port. Hiccup didn't pay any attention to it.

Sigurd realized this and internally sighed. The twins did have good intentions in mind but the road to hell is paved with good intentions after all. Dumping everything on Hiccup just before the critical juncture was a very risky move.

'They could have done it earlier, to at least to let him cool down,' Sigurd thought but the twins were more afraid of Hiccup turn his tail than anything else.

However, this was where Sigurd comes to play. Sigurd Eriksson may look like he only knew how to fight, but having been in subservient role for prideful men for most of his life, he knew how to push their buttons discreetly.

Hiccup was accused of being afraid, so Sigurd will start from there.

"So…" Sigurd started. Hiccup didn't acknowledge him. "What are you going to do? We could just turn back home…but then the Queen might think that you-we're afraid of her,"

Hiccup huffed as he sat on his table and ran a hand through his hair. "Afraid? I'm not afraid!"

Sigurd smiled. "Weren't you the one that was nervous meeting her before?"

Hiccup glared at him and Sigurd raised his hands in defense.

"Alright, so what's stopping you?" Sigurd asked and Hiccup turned away. "Ah, you're worried that if you did meet the Queen, you'd be playing into the twin's hands,"

Hiccup was silent.

Sigurd internally sighed again. He hoped that it would be enough to goad Hiccup but apparently it wasn't. He has to push a bit more...

Next was pride, which Sigurd was reluctant to manipulate from Hiccup as it was very risky. Over-inflating a person's pride and ego can led to hubris and it was the downfall of many great person.

If their plan failed, Hiccup could be worse than what they intended him to be and it would be their fault.

"But from what I understand, the twins want you to change your mind after meeting with the Queen right? What if you didn't change your mind?" Sigurd said and Hiccup turned to look at him again with an inquisitive look.

"Let's say that you did meet the Queen and you still didn't change your mind. In the end, it's your victory even though you've been played the entire time," Sigurd suggested.

Hiccup looked interested and Sigurd internally smiled.

"You'd have the last laugh. In the end, all their effort will be in vain and you'd win," Sigurd finished and Hiccup smirked evilly.

"You're right. They think that they have me figured out, but they're wrong." Hiccup said and prepared himself.

Sigurd internally sighed in relief. He managed to get Hiccup meet the Queen, but at a high cost of inflating his pride. Even if Hiccup meets the Queen but if he wasn't going to listen to her because of his pride, he might as well not meet her at all.

"Let's go and meet this Snow Queen,"

Sigurd nodded. 'Phase 3 is a success. Now unto Phase 4,' Sigurd thought.

"_So let me get this straight…this plan was very risky from the very start and now you want to gamble it all on the Snow Queen…who's a freaking wild card in this?" Sigurd asked the twins._

_The twins nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah, we figured that if Hiccup doesn't want to listen to us, he'd probably listen to someone who's in the same boots as him, or in his case, boot" Tuffnut said._

_Sigurd grew annoyed at this. "Yeah sure, they're in the same position, but are you even sure that she'd be willing to help, that she'd be willing to put up with emotional Hiccup after what you're going to put him through?" _

_The twins looked unsure at this. "Most likely…yeah?"_

Sigurd wasn't even sure why he agreed with the plan at all. However, it was already in motion and Sigurd could only pray that their plan would work. If not, they might lose everything.

All their hope now laid on the most important piece in their plan; the Snow Queen. She will be the one that would make or break everything.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Oh my god, Hiccup and Elsa still haven't meet yet?! This is blasphemy! Maybe in the next chapter perhaps? Oh, wait, there's still Olaf and Kristoff's time with the trolls that hasn't been covered yet! So I guess, two more chapters? ;)

This chapter was one of the hardest for me to write because it's hard to write an angry conversation that doesn't fly off to god knows were. Most angry conversations in real life tended to end up with both sides picking up at every single fault they could find about each other instead of focusing on the original problem. Then it would deviate and escalate into something much worse. Oh well...

Read and Review!


	8. Chapter 7: First Impressions

**Author's Note: **It seemed that some readers were worried that this chapter would be about the trolls and not the Elsa's and Hiccup's meeting…well, I guess I managed to…'troll' you guys?

Anyway, a little bit of Q & A session before we start.

**Princess of Midnight: **The F-word is kinda…well, for the sake of convenience (of the readers and story) I decided to forgo the language barrier and perhaps the time period associated with the particular words as well. Consider it as dubbing in shows where the spoken language is changed to tailor for specific audience, without the need for translation subtitles.

In other words, consider the F-word to be the Viking's swear language translated to English. I know it might not be accurate and breaks the immersion a little bit, but unfortunately, it is beyond my capability to be accurate on the languages.

**T-Biggz****: **The reason why I didn't mention Valka is because that there is a speculation that she might not be Hiccup's mother. I mean, some speculate that the reason why Dreamworks revealed Valka early is to set for a plot twist; that she might not be his mother at all. I could make her as Hiccup's mother but if it is revealed to be the opposite, it's gonna be weird and awkward in my story. That's why, I want to hold of Valka's reveal for as long as possible. That and it doesn't seem the right time for her to appear yet.

Truth to be told, I'm not comfortable at using materials I hardly know much about and in this case, the events in the second movie. Mentioning even the second movie's villain kinda puts me off, hence the short mention.

For me, to be completely safe, the original plan for this story is to wait for the second movie to come out then I can began using the second movie's materials comfortably and even 'sync' the Hiccup in my story with the movie. However, the wait is too long! And by that time, my inspiration to write this story might have been gone. Hell, should I wait, this story might not even make it to the Internet! I might make some changes if I feel the need for it once the movie comes out, however.

**Colonel Pepper****: **Long story? Marriage? Epilogue? If only you know what I had in mind for this story…the only problem is writing it down! Man, I wish there's a device that can read your mind and write for you. Oh well…

* * *

**CHAPTER 7 – First Impressions**

Before today, Elsa would wake up feeling dread, hoping and praying that the Vikings would not come that day or even never at all. Today however, she woke up and found out that she did not have to hope and pray for such thing anymore.

Elsa woke up feeling great! She felt as if she could take on the world! This might what Anna feels every morning!

If she would wake up that is.

Elsa watched her sister's sleeping face and giggled. The first time they've sleep together after their isolation, Elsa woke up screaming at seeing her sister's bed head. Seriously, how on Earth did it managed to get that way? It was as if her hair became alive every night and decided to run away from its master or something.

Elsa smiled and decided that a cold wakeup call is appropriate.

The Snow Queen conjured a bed of snow to appear on the floor beside Anna's side of the bed. Elsa then carefully took away the blanket and with all her strength (it was either Elsa's in need of exercise or Anna was just that heavy), pushed Anna off the bed.

"Whoa-" Anna instantly woke up when her body sensed that she was falling and fall face first into the snow. To add salt to the wound, Elsa conjured more snow to completely cover her younger sister with the cold powdery white substance.

"GAAAAHHH!" Anna immediately got to her knees, sending snow everywhere to search for the culprit. Said culprit was laughing very hard in an unrestrained manner, something that was quite rare for her to do.

"You-" Elsa tried to say. "-you're a Yeti!"

True enough, Anna did look like a Yeti. For some reason, her messy bed head didn't get push down by the snow but instead it holds the snow! Furthermore, her face got snow stuck to it, leaving only the eyes visible.

Hearing Elsa laughed made her grin and Anna waited for a while to savor the moment before throwing a snowball at her sister's face, causing her to gasp.

"Oh yeah? I'm also the tickle monster!" Anna said and jumped on her sister.

"N-no!" Elsa tried to escape, but it was futile.

**…**

The positive feeling continued for most of Elsa's morning. Breakfast was a bit weird as it was silent for a while, and that was a very rare occurrence in the royal sister's life.

Anna hated silence, especially between her and Elsa on mealtimes. It was during mealtimes that Anna would be the most talkative, especially during breakfast and dinner. Usually, on breakfast Anna would ask Elsa on her plans for the day and on dinner, she would ask Elsa how her day was before telling her own. It was the time that Anna, Elsa and Kristoff could bond together.

Usually, a silent meal meant that something bad had happen. It could be an argument between the sisters, or between Anna and Kristoff or perhaps something else. However, the breakfast that morning was silent in a good way. The sisters didn't utter a word but smiles can be seen on their faces.

The silence was short-lived however as the dining hall's doors opened to reveal Kristoff. He raised an eyebrow as he examined the sisters' silence but smiled as he saw the smiles on their faces.

"I thought I missed breakfast," Kristoff said with a grin and took a seat. Breakfast then became lively again as Anna pestered Kristoff on what he did the day before and the dining hall was filled with laughter again.

For most of the morning, Elsa felt wonderful and braver than she was yesterday. For the first time, she hoped that the Vikings would arrive that very same day so she could deal with them.

Elsa got her wish. It wasn't even noon when she received news from Kai that a huge ship unlike they have ever seen before with the Viking flag was nearing their harbor.

Anna turned to look at her sister when they heard the news and she was relieved to find that Elsa showed no fear but fierce determination.

'You may be the King of Dragons, Viking King but my sister is the Queen of Winter!' Anna thought with a smile.

**…**

"Toothless, you need to stay here, okay?" Hiccup said to the Night Fury who was giving him pleading look.

Hiccup sighed. "I know, buddy, but it's only for a while and I'll be alright since we don't have any war on our head…for the moment. Besides, if I need you, I'll signal you, alright?"

Hiccup scratched Toothless head and the dragon purred happily. "I'll see you soon, okay?" Hiccup said and Toothless gave him a smile and the Viking King returned it.

Hiccup turned away and began his way back to the deck of the ship. The ship he was in was named the Jörmungandr or the Midgard Serpent. As Midgard was the name of the world (according to the Vikings), the name also translates to the World Serpent.

In Norse legend, Jörmungandr was a huge serpent that could encircle the world.

True to its name, the ship Jörmungandr was humongous. Serving as the flagship of the Viking Kingdom's navy, it was a multihull ship and the largest of its kind. The world probably has never seen anything like it before and every Viking agreed that it would make quite an impression.

This was because the Jörmungandr was a weird, unique and interesting ship. Most ships were of a single hull, but Jörmungandr has three. The central hull, which was the largest, contained most of the vital components of the ship, namely the living quarters, supplies, personnel weapons and even have an exclusive level to hold dragons. The stern of the central hull of the dragon's floor has doors that can be opened so that the dragons can enter or exit the ship. The smaller side hulls of the ship were often called the gun rigs as it held the ship's cannons for ship-to-ship combat.

Most people that saw the ship for the first time would be afraid of the ship's size and cannons. Truth to be told, the cannons were last resort when enemy ships got too close. The main weapon of the ship was the dragons. The Jörmungandr was the first 'carrier ship' in the world and it was capable of bringing dragons across vast distances and into new territories.

Needless to say, when Jörmungandr was filled with a fleet of dragons, especially Night Furies, it can single handedly destroy an entire fleet of warships.

Hiccup took his time in traversing the ship and the Viking crew nodded at him. The Viking King returned the gesture and was thankful that the crew didn't ask anything. He then reached the deck where the twins and Sigurd was waiting for him. The twins avoided eye contact and Hiccup preferred that way. Sigurd nodded to him and told him that they are ready to land.

"Alright, let's get this charade under way, hmm?" Hiccup remarked sarcastically and Tuffnut only grunted in response.

**…**

When Frederik saw the Viking's flagship, all he could say was "Fuck,"

Hugo heard it and gave him a worried look. "Yes, fuck indeed,"

'Seriously? Seriously?! The Vikings already have dragons under their control and now they have a kick-ass ship too?' Frederik thought has he tapped his finger on his sword.

The ship was huge and unconventional but Frederik knew why it was like that; to carry dragons. It would be stupid really to leave such powerful weapons at home.

Sure enough, the ship drew the attention of everyone in the area. Merchants, traders and the people of Arendelle stopped what they were doing as they watched the humongous ship that was taking a lot of space at the harbor. Large ships wasn't a problem at harbors because most of them were just single hull ships and their size were attributed to their length and height.

The Viking's flagship however, was not only huge in terms of length and height, it was also wide!

Frederik had to order the harbormaster to move most of the merchant ships to make space for that monstrosity.

'Live with monsters and you might as well become them,' Frederik thought.

The ship managed to dock without trouble and Frederik didn't have to wait long when the Vikings came out from the ship.

The first person to step on the pier was a huge blonde man wearing a complete grey armor and a huge two handed sword strapped to his back. He looked like he could take on ten people without trouble. If anything, the man reminded him of Kristoff except armored and armed.

Frederik's guards shifted uncomfortably at seeing the mountain of man. "Sir, is he the Viking King?" one of his men asked and Frederik didn't reply.

The armored Viking didn't move towards him but instead waited for another person. The person in question was smaller than the armored Viking but wore clothing more suitable for a royal than warriors. However, what surprised him more was that the Viking King was young, almost as the same age as Elsa.

"No. He's the bodyguard. That is the Viking King," Hugo said to the General and his men.

'Is this the guy that tamed dragons and unified the Vikings?' Frederik thought and he wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or bad. Furthermore, the Viking King looked angry. 'Bad day?'

The Viking King then walked towards them and Hugo made the first move. "Welcome to Arendelle. I am Hugo Johannes, Arendelle's Minister of Foreign Affairs" Hugo bowed curtly and Frederik introduced himself next.

"I am Frederik Havar, Arendelle's General of the Army," Frederik said.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this. Why would they sent the general to greet him? Nevertheless, he didn't want to be rude.

"King-" Hiccup internally grimaced at calling himself king. He still wasn't used to it. "-Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third of the Kingdom of Berk,"

If he and his men hasn't heard the Viking King's name and his kingdom, they might have laughed. Fortunately, they were prepared and thankfully, his men kept a straight face. Still, trying not laugh at hearing the name said by an incredibly tense and serious face was a very hard task to do.

Luckily Hugo managed to change the subject soon enough. "Forgive me, the General is here under the impression that you might arrive with your dragons,"

Hiccup was silent for a moment before answering with a straight face. "And what if we did?" Hiccup said, as if challenged.

Frederik wanted to say that Arendelle doesn't want the dragons near anywhere the castle but that wasn't his job at the moment. It was Hugo's.

"Well, we are happy to inform you that we have prepared a comfortable stable for your dragons," Hugo said and Hiccup was quick to reply.

"No, they're comfortable where they are now. Leave them be, and they won't disturb anyone," Hiccup said and Hugo nervously nodded. Frederik doesn't look satisfied with the answer, probably thinking that it would be safer if they chained the dragons first.

Well, tough luck then.

"Very well. Let's us meet with the Queen!" Hugo said with a bit of pretend excitement.

**…**

Anna suggested for Elsa to wear her Snow Queen attire and 'demonstrate' a bit of her power to subtly show that she wasn't afraid to use it against the Vikings.

Elsa shot down the idea saying that it would make her more…appealing to the Viking King, especially when she was in her rather revealing Snow Queen dress.

Anna only gave an "oh" after hearing the answer.

So here she was on her throne in her normal Queen dress, waiting for the arrival of the Vikings.

The wait seemed like an eternity and it was becoming unbearable to the young Queen by the second. In her mind, she was preparing herself for the meeting but for every second passed, the growing nervousness was eating away at her confidence.

Anna seemed to realize this and gripped Elsa's hand, drawing her away from her train of thought. "You can do this!" Anna smiled.

Elsa stared at Anna's determined eyes and she felt her strength returning back to her. Elsa sighed and nodded. "You're right,"

The doors to the throne room opened to reveal Hugo and Frederik who then went to their position in her court. The Viking group then entered the court and while they were walking towards her, Elsa took the chance to examine the group.

Elsa's eyes first went to the familiar faces of the Viking twins, which she realized that Tuffnut doesn't look happy and Ruffnut kept a neutral look. Elsa wondered why but it wasn't the right moment to ask and she shifted her attention to the huge armored and armed Viking. Elsa didn't know the person but knew well enough what he was; a bodyguard.

Which left the only person who was in front of the group to be the Viking King. He certainly wasn't what Elsa was expecting as he was…smaller in size and build. Wearing a red fur cape, a simple looking green long sleeved shirt, blue pants and leather boots? Elsa was under the impression that the Viking King's left leg were gone and a peg would replace it but all she could see was a rather normal left leg.

Unless he hid the peg inside the boots.

Elsa then shifted her attention to the Viking King's face. He has auburn hair which was the same as 'that guy'! Of course, that was where the similarities end. The Viking King's hair was untamed and wild. It was improper for men of the court to be like that but to Elsa, it was a refreshing sight. Plus, it reminded her of their close friend, the mountain man Kristoff. The Viking King also didn't have the usual handsome and 'perfect' noble's face. He has freckles on his cheek and a rather large nose, which was another reminder to the mountain man.

However, the Viking King has a furious look on his face. Elsa's heartbeat rise again as she wondered what would be the reason for the Viking King's fury. She hoped it wasn't because of her kingdom. Nevertheless, she realized something. It might have just been her gut feeling, but she reasoned that the Viking King's furious look doesn't suit him.

Not to say that the Viking King can't pull an angry look to scare people. Oh he could! It was just that, his face was made for a more comforting look.

The Viking King looked different from The Snow Queen's previous suitors and for some reason, it gave her a mixed feeling.

**…**

Hiccup didn't hear much about the Snow Queen, well, except from the twins but given the recent events, he didn't think he could trust anything that came out from their mouths any more.

However, he could not deny that what the twins told about the Queen was true. The Queen was young and almost the same age as him. She was also supposedly to be very beautiful; an exotic and ethereal beauty.

'Eehh, no, not really,' Hiccup thought as he slowly walk towards the Queen to buy more time to examine her just as she was doing to him.

Well, it could be that in Hiccup's heart, there was only one beautiful woman in his life and others just couldn't compare. That and Elsa seemed similar to Astrid somewhat.

'Just because she has blonde hair?' Logical Hiccup scolded him. 'And it's not the same blonde!'

'Shut up!'

Okay, right now in her royal dress, she doesn't look like Astrid at all. It was just that…

_"They even think that you don't have any interest with woman any more, and that you'd rather fuck a dragon!"_

Remembering those words caused Hiccup's anger to rise again. Great, and he was feeling a little less angry before.

'Dammit! Why can't I just told her that I wasn't interested at all?' Hiccup thought.

He could, but not now. It would be weird if he back away now without at least spend some time with her. People would say that the Viking King was afraid of the Snow Queen. He didn't care what people would think of him but…it wasn't about just about him anymore.

And so, he has to 'suck it up' for the moment, just for a while.

**…**

Kai then silently cleared his throat before doing his job.

"Presenting King Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third of the Kingdom of Berk," Kai announced.

"Welcome to Arendelle, I am Queen Elsa," Elsa managed to say with confidence.

King Hiccup nodded before bowing curtly. "Thank you, Queen Elsa. As you know, I am King Hiccup. This is my bodyguard Sigurd Eriksson," he gestured towards Sigurd. "And I'm sure you've been acquainted with my emissaries, Tuffnut Thorston and Ruffnut Ingerman,"

Elsa nodded. 'Ah, so the sister is married,'

"Yes, I have," Elsa said.

"I hope they didn't give you too much trouble," Hiccup said and his voice was somewhat laced with sarcasm?

'Too much trouble?' Elsa thought. It was weird that he would even mention trouble, let alone too much trouble! Granted, the twins did cause some trouble with their unorthodox method but was it expected from them then? If they were troublemakers, why gave them such an important position?

Tuffnut rolled his eyes while Ruffnut avoided eye contact.

'Something did happen between them,' Elsa thought.

"No, they weren't a trouble at all," Elsa said, which it wasn't the complete truth, but there's no point fanning the fires now.

Hiccup shrugged, looking as if he wasn't buying it. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting with the famous and…" Hiccup hesitated, as if saying the next word was painful to him. "-beautiful…Queen of Arendelle,"

The court then became deathly silent when compared to the usual silence when the royalties weren't talking. Ruffnut covered her mouth as well as Tuffnut's who was on the verge of saying something. Sigurd sighed but it went unnoticed by Hiccup.

'Goddamit Hiccup! I know you're still thinking of Astrid, but at least make it believable!' Sigurd thought.

Anna bit the inside of her cheek to stop her from saying things that she might regret later. Elsa however was a bit miffed in the inside.

'He hesitated? It's like he was forced to say that!' Elsa thought.

Elsa wasn't a vain person and she didn't care about her beauty very much. It was mostly because she had other pressing matters to worry about. That and her makeup was taken care of by the servants (and they always make sure she looks beautiful) and she figured that her marriage (if she was ever to get married) would be because of other factors and not for her beauty.

Sure, she had to look beautiful at least for occasions such as this. Sure, she heard a lot of people that sung praises to her beauty, a lot of it from her people. But people of power such as nobles or especially from her suitors, she felt that it was more of a necessity; either because the fear of her, or because one of the many rules of being a noble; to butter the other nobles.

Beauty was never an issue to Elsa as she didn't want to think that that was all to her. She has other factors to make it up for it, even though those factors might not be her own. However, to hear another person, especially a royalty to say that to her was quite a blow to her self-conscious. Not to mention that this would be quite possibly the first time she heard that.

Of course, technically, King Hiccup didn't outright say that she was ugly but…

At that moment, Elsa thought that maybe, she should have worn her Snow Queen dress.

'What are you worrying about? Isn't this wonderful news? He might not be interested in you in the end!' Logic Elsa scolded her.

'Yeah, he's only interested in the 'Snow Queen' and my kingdom, just like the rest,' Elsa thought.

Her rational mind was silent and it frustrated her. She hoped for a rebuttal to say that she was wrong and was overthinking it like usual when it comes to the Vikings but…

It was funny really. She knew her suitors wasn't interested in her as a person and they hid it well. It didn't faze her, so then why the Viking King had such an impact to her? Was it because he was a bit more direct in the matter? Was it because he was supposedly different from the rest?

Elsa didn't realize it but during her inner turmoil, she was silent for a while and was hugging her arms. Anna was furious in the inside and just wanted to jump at the Viking King for his crime!

'How dare him! My sister is the prettiest, beautifullest, most awesome sister in the world!' Anna thought.

Hiccup however was oblivious to the whole thing as his judgement was still clouded by his own negative train of thought. He wondered why the Queen was suddenly silent. Was she expecting more praises from him?

Hiccup internally groaned. One of the reasons why he didn't want to meet the other foreign kingdom was because of the different rules and customs when speaking to their leader. With the other Viking Chiefs it was simple and straight to the point really. There was no need for this sort of ritual to speak to the rulers. Really, it was as if the rulers were treated as something above humans or something.

Which wasn't surprising really. A lot of cultures paint their rulers as deities and it didn't help that the belief was self-propagated by the rulers themselves.

'What, just because she has magical powers, I have to butter her up? I hope she didn't think that she's some kind of goddess of something. Hmph, 'Snow Queen'. What's next? 'Snow Goddess?'' Hiccup thought.

'Well, maybe you should? She could freeze your balls after all,' Logic Hiccup cut in.

'Shut up!'

Luckily for both Queen and King, the situation was saved by Kai, who cleared his throat and managed to return Elsa to reality. Elsa turned to look at Anna, who clearly had a disapproving look on her face, and then to Kai who was silently telling her to keep the ball rolling, so to speak.

Elsa then turned her attention to the Viking King again, this time with a determined look.

"_Thank you_," Elsa said with a little venom in her voice. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this, as if he was innocent. Elsa then decided to…play a little bit with the Viking King.

Technically, she, as the host was supposed to invite the Vikings to stay, offer a tour around the castle and town and invite them for meals. Even if she didn't welcome their stay, she wasn't supposed to leave them hanging. It was rude…but, let's see how the Viking King would react, hmm?

Elsa then stayed quiet, waiting for King Hiccup to make his move and say something. The deathly silence then returned again and everyone could feel the tension in the air.

Well, everyone except Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't say anything and he looked at Elsa and her surrounding rather…nervously? It was as if he didn't know what to do or he was in an awkward situation that he could not get out from.

That was because Hiccup really didn't know what to do next. This meeting wasn't what he expected when he came here. At first, the meeting was to diffuse a 'situation' that could lead to war between the two kingdoms. Of course, he then learned that the 'situation' didn't exists. If it did, it would be much simpler then. He could just explain what happened, apologize, pay the compensation and go back home.

Now? Things were a lot more complicated. Under normal circumstances, and if this meeting was about a different topic, Hiccup would have fared better. Unfortunately, it has to be the topic that he didn't want to talk about!

What was he going to say to her? Give her more half-assed praises? Ask her what to do next? Ask her permission to leave?

Hiccup then sighed and rubbed the back of his head while looking at floor. Seeing this gesture, Elsa raised an eyebrow.

It was strange, really. People that met her, barring her subject, rarely stayed quiet for a long time like this especially when it was their turn to talk. Her suitors would take this chance to flatter her or talk about them or the gifts that they've bought and so on while diplomats would try to sweet talk her into their way of thinking.

King Hiccup however, looked lost.

Elsa then decided that she had her 'fun'.

"King Hiccup, since we are nearing lunchtime, I would like to invite you and your party to lunch. After that, my sister and I would give you a tour of our castle and town. Would you like to join us?" Elsa offered.

Hiccup and the rest of the Vikings internally sighed at being free from the awkward situation. "That would be nice. Thank you," Hiccup replied.

"Lunch is going to be super awkward," Tuffnut whispered to his sister.

"Tell me about it," Ruffnut whispered back.

* * *

**Author's Note: **There it is! The meeting that you've all been waiting for! This is seriously hard to write! Elsa might seem overreacting but as far as I know, when it comes to politics and the royal court, posturing is very important. Make a move or bad choices of words that would make other people interpret it negatively could spell disaster, even if you didn't mean to offend somebody.

Still, not sure if I'm happy with this chapter as it has a lot of inner monologue. Oh well, next chapter should be more fun to write I guess? One more chapter of angry Hiccup and we can get to the fluffy part!

Oh and congrats to guest reader **SchoolBurner **who (seemed to?) have found my secret reference! Truth to be told, there's still other secret references yet to be found in the previous chapters! See if you, the readers can find them!

Read and Review!


	9. Chapter 8: Queen's Gambit

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the delay! This chapter was perhaps the hardest to write so far! Seriously, writing angst that doesn't derail the flow of the story is friggin hard! Phew!

Oh and this story has reached 200 reviews! You guys...are awesome! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

* * *

**CHAPTER 8 – Queen's Gambit**

Silence was not a foreign concept to the Royal Sisters. Both however, had different relationships with it.

To Anna, silence meant the absence of sounds, especially wonderful sounds such as laughter or the voice of loved ones. So it was understandable that Anna had a strong dislike for silence, with exceptions of course.

Elsa however, had a love-hate relationship with silence. She hated it when facing hard times as it reminded her of her loneliness or when she had a fight with her sister. However, she also appreciated the good kind of silence such as the one that allowed her to gather her thoughts and rest after a long day, especially when Anna was involved.

The silence in the dining hall however, wasn't the good kind of silence that anybody would like.

It was lunch time and apart from the standard courtesy of inviting the Vikings to eat and enjoy their food, nothing else was said.

Anna was seething in the inside and Elsa knew that she was stuffing her mouth with food to prevent her from voicing her opinion on their guests. Elsa of course had told her in private that the Viking King probably didn't know what he did wrong but it still didn't stop her sister from being vengeful.

Elsa was simply content with observing her guests to gauge her next move. Usually, her suitors was the one to make the first move and all.

The twins were silent as whatever that came out from their mouths would probably anger Hiccup. He did told them to stay quiet unless when they were addressed. Not wanting to make the situation even worse than it was, the twins agreed to stay quiet. Besides, the food was enough incentive to keep them quiet anyway.

Sigurd the bodyguard was simply enjoying the good food in front of him.

Hiccup was not usually a silent person, especially when meeting new and interesting people. Of course, given his current state of mind, he wasn't in the mood to talk and right now. It was probably for the best, considering that sarcasm was a part of his personality.

When he was little, he couldn't really lash out physically ('physical' was one of his problems at the time) at people that teased him, the shunning from the tribe and from his own father's disappointments. Thus, sarcasm was his way to deal with those problems. It also helped that most of the Vikings didn't understand his sarcasm so he pretty much got away most of the time.

Of course, he couldn't be sarcastic in front of important people…that are not Vikings (the Vikings weren't so touchy). Especially in front of someone that can freeze entire kingdoms.

It didn't helped that Hiccup was in a sense, was at war with himself.

'Can't the day go any faster? I need to get home so that-' Hiccup thought.

'So you can what? Deal with the 'coup'? Root out 'rebels' that might not exist in the first place? How are you going to do that exactly?' Logical Hiccup put out his thought.

Hiccup stabbed his (rather delicious) dish with vengeance as he growled lightly.

'It might not exist right now, but in the future! Dammit! After all I've done for them!' Hiccup thought again.

'Well, it wasn't like they asked for it. You kind of imposed it on them. If anything, you sound like a righteous prick right now,' Logical Hiccup added again, which wasn't doing the both of them any favour.

'I'm doing this for the good of our people!' Hiccup countered.

'Yeah sure, because you're the only one that knows what's best for the Vikings and everyone else is just a sheep that you have to herd,' Logical Hiccup replied and Hiccup groaned into his hand.

He hated it when he practically sarcasm himself.

Of course, his action didn't went unnoticed by practically everyone on the table.

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this. 'It seems that King Hiccup was having a war with himself?' Elsa thought. 'I wonder why?'

"Is the food not to your liking, King Hiccup?" Elsa asked and Hiccup raised his face from his hand.

"What? Oh no, the food is wonderful! Couldn't have cook it better myself!" Hiccup automatically replied without giving much thought.

This got Elsa's attention. "Oh? You can cook?"

"Well, I don't have the luxury of servants cooking for me all the time," Hiccup replied and this time with a _reflex _eye roll. The other Vikings internally groaned and Elsa, who was watching Hiccup, was speechless.

Hiccup, despite in his terrible state of mind, still managed to realize his error and it only add to his frustration and anger more. He didn't do anything to rectify it however.

Sigurd gave the twins a sharp look and the twins nodded softly.

The twin's plan was for Queen Elsa to hopefully, be able to calm Hiccup enough for him to be able see reason and change his mind. However, the way things were going, even the Queen would give up on Hiccup.

The only way to salvage the situation was to tell the Queen of the truth and hopefully, the Queen would help them.

Elsa replied with a quiet 'oh' and turned her gaze at her food. She wanted to say that she can cook as well but feared Hiccup's remark on her rather meager cooking skills.

Anna could only glare daggers at Hiccup.

Hiccup sighed at this and got up from his seat and gained everyone's attention. "I'm sorry, Queen Elsa, I don't think I can take up on your offer for the tour. I'll be taking my rest in my ship," Hiccup said. "I thank you for your generosity," Hiccup said and promptly went to the doors.

The twins were eyeing their king with bulging eyes. "But, but, they have chocolate truffles for dessert!" Tuffnut said sadly.

**…**

Hiccup sighed as he walked down the hallways in a hurried pace. He then heard the clanking noises of armor and soon, Sigurd was beside him.

His bodyguard was quiet but Hiccup knew what he would want to say.

"I know, I was rude," Hiccup said and rubbed his temple.

'And immature,' Sigurd wanted to add but it would be better to not fan the flame. "Yes, yes you were,"

Hiccup sighed again. "Where are the twins?" Hiccup asked.

"They'll be coming shortly," Sigurd replied.

"Good. We'll rest for the day and leave tomorrow morning," Hiccup said and Sigurd was silent.

Suddenly, one of his Viking crew ran up to him. "King Hiccup!"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong?"

"Your dragon, Toothless! He got sick!" the crewmember said.

Hiccup's eyes widened at this. "What!? What happened!?"

"We don't know! We feed him lunch as usual and suddenly he was convulsing on the floor and there's foam from his mouth! We thought that it might be because of the fish that we got from the market!" the crewmember replied.

Hiccup didn't need to hear anymore as he ran full speed towards where his best friend was followed by Sigurd and the crewmember.

'Please don't let anything happen to Toothless! I can't lose him!' Hiccup thought desperately.

Meanwhile, Kai was perplexed at the situation. When the Viking messenger told him that he has a message for his King, Kai had allowed him to interrupt King Hiccup during his lunch.

However the messenger simply told him that it can wait until the Viking King has finished his lunch. Kai didn't think that the message was urgent then.

But from the reaction of the Vikings, it did seemed urgent. So why did the messenger waited to relay the message?

**…**

Elsa was glad that Hiccup took his leave and choose not to spend the rest of the day with her. She didn't want to think what could have happened if they did. Hiccup would probably react to it much like a child that was forced to sit through a show that he hated.

Elsa was about to excuse herself as well when she was stopped by the Viking twins.

"Queen Elsa," Ruffnut started and Elsa turned her attention to her.

"Yes?" Elsa said softly.

"We apologize for our King's behavior. He wasn't like this," Ruffnut said and this intrigued Elsa and Anna.

"Did something happen?" Elsa asked and the twins avoided her eyes.

"Well…yeah, something did happen and it was kinda our fault?" Tuffnut said and rubbed the back of his neck.

Elsa raised an eyebrow at them.

"Before we get to that, we have to tell you why we did it," Ruffnut said and Elsa didn't reply for a moment.

Should Elsa listen to the Vikings? She had a nagging suspicion that the reason why they were here wasn't as what it seems.

A different reason than courting the Queen of Arendelle, that was for sure.

Anna turned to look at her sister. It seemed that her anger on the Viking King was replaced by her curiosity, just like Elsa.

"Go on," Elsa said and the twins nodded. They took a deep breath before Tuffnut started.

"Well, you know that our kingdom is young right?" Tuffnut asked and Elsa nodded. "Before we were unified under a single banner, the Vikings were splintered into many tribes. Life back then was filled with fighting; if we didn't fight the dragons, we would fight and raid other tribes for resources,"

"Of course, to us and many other Vikings, it was the normal way of living," Ruffnut continued and shrugged. "Heck, Hiccup probably would have settled into that way of living as well if he didn't went exploring. He probably would have just be a Chief instead of King right now,"

"But, one day, Hiccup decided to explore further than he ever had before. He went beyond outside of the kingdom and when he returned, he…changed a bit. He also brought another Viking with him," Ruffnut said but the servants came in and brought out the desserts.

They waited until the servants had finished their task before Elsa motioned them to continue.

"The other Viking was Varin Hafrson," Ruffnut continued while her brother played with his dessert as they were not in the mood to eat right now. "He was…you could say a victim,"

Elsa and Anna gave them confused looks. "What do you mean?" Elsa asked.

"Well, not all Vikings choose to stay to fight the dragons. Some thought they would have better luck elsewhere, so they set sail to other lands outside of our kingdom. Most of them weren't fortunate; Varin and his family was attacked and captured as slaves," Ruffnut explained and Anna and Elsa shared a sad look.

Slavery was never right.

"Hiccup, during his travels, found Varin and released him and they both returned home as changed men. Both have a goal but different visions," Tuffnut continued the story.

"They both wanted to unite the Vikings but for different purposes. Hiccup…he just wants to make our lives better even though the rest might not see it that way," Tuffnut said.

Anna and Elsa shared a look between them as their view on the Viking King started to change a bit.

"But Varin wanted to unite us to fight back the rest of the world," Tuffnut continued and this gained the sisters attention.

"The world? What do you mean?" Elsa asked.

The twins avoided her gaze for a moment. "You know, the 'superpowers'? You know how they are when they found valuable resources…" Tuffnut said and Elsa nodded in understanding.

"When they found something they want, if they could take it by force, they would," Tuffnut continued. "They both understood and feared that. They understand that when the world knew of the dragons, they would come for them,"

"This is where they both had clashing ideologies. Hiccup wanted to protect them by keeping them a secret and isolate the Vikings and the dragons from the rest of the world," Tuffnut said and the sisters' eyes widened as they shared looks again.

Anna didn't say a word but Elsa understood it well enough. Hiccup sounded like her when she was afraid.

"Varin said that it was impossible to do that and he wanted to take…preventive measures of sort. Bring the fight to them instead of waiting, you know?" Tuffnut said and Elsa nodded.

"It was a sad thing. They both were good friends…and became each other's worst enemies," Ruffnut continued next. "Varin then became the leader of the Sky Fang tribe and were the last to fall and Hiccup lost his voice of reason that day as well,"

The twins gave the Snow Queen a sad look.

"You mean…?" Elsa asked the twins nodded.

"Yes, his fiancée, Astrid Hofferson," Ruffnut said and the sisters suddenly understood a little bit on why Hiccup was furious. He was probably still grieving.

That also meant that Hiccup wasn't interested in her as well.

Elsa internally sighed. It didn't surprise her at all, but still it didn't stop her from feeling a pang of pain in her heart.

How many times has it already been? You'd think that she would be immune to it.

Elsa then realized that Anna and the Vikings were looking at her. "Continue," Elsa said in a neutral tone and the Vikings nodded. Anna was still looking at her though.

"Well, after that, Hiccup finally managed to unite the Vikings. But, things weren't going so well…" Ruffnut continued. "You see, it would be different if the Vikings were united under…you could say, a different person without Hiccup's ideology,"

"What do you mean?" Anna asked.

"A normal Viking King would probably exterminate the dragons or if they had them under control, choose Varin's path," Ruffnut explained and Anna's eyes widened in understanding. "We are after all, warriors all the way through,"

Elsa nodded as well. It made sense. Almost every civilization in the world that, when had gathered a significant military power, would went ahead and use it against weaker civilizations. Especially civilizations that were...fighting oriented.

"But Hiccup didn't want that," Tuffnut said.

Elsa's respect for the Viking King grew at hearing that.

"What's more, he wants to change the Viking's way of living and you know how people react to changes, especially when those people have stubbornness issues," Ruffnut said and Elsa nodded again.

Change was not easy to accept.

"He forced people to coexist with dragons. I mean, our tribe had years to adapt to them and we are lucky that our village was one of the nicer ones. Some tribe whose way of living centred on fighting the dragons have deep hatred of them were not happy at all about the change," Tuffnut continued from his sister. "It didn't help that some tribes wanted to use the dragons for war once they knew of their potential,"

"But, surely not everyone shared the same view?" Elsa asked with a hint of worry.

"Fortunately, no. Some remain loyal to Hiccup simply because he is the king. Some want change in the Viking's lifestyle and some just want to explore the world now that they don't have to worry about dragons anymore," Tuffnut explained.

"But King Hiccup's closed doors policy isn't helping matters," Elsa said and the twins nodded.

"Hiccup wants to do a lot of things but it can't be achieved with isolation," Ruffnut said. "We're afraid that…if this continues, there will be a possible upraising and civil war,"

Anna gasped and Elsa nodded in understanding.

The Vikings weren't like her people. The people of Arendelle were of the gentle folk, so to speak. They would be happy with whatever that their government decided for them, as long as it benefitted them of course. Heck, it would take them quite an effort to instigate a rebellion.

The fact that her people didn't march to her Ice Palace to kill her years ago was proof of that.

But the Vikings, almost all of their people were stubborn, brave and fierce warriors that weren't afraid to voice their opinion if needed be. If Elsa was their Queen and brought about a Great Freeze on them, you could bet that the whole Viking kingdom would die trying to stop her.

"In other words, to prevent such thing from happening, King Hiccup had to appease them in some way," Elsa said and the twins nodded.

"Yes, if we could at least have trade on luxury items to distract the Vikings from other matters until they changed their minds or divert their energy to something else," Tuffnut said.

"But here comes the biggest problem; Hiccup refused to listen! We tried almost everything to just at least make him listen to reason, but he figured that the Vikings will have to make do with the way things are going," Ruffnut continued and suddenly Elsa's eyes widened in realization.

Suddenly it all made sense.

**…**

"Toothless!" Hiccup barged into the where his dragon was kept, expecting to see the worst case scenario that had been running in his mind.

Instead, he found a perfectly healthy and confused Night Fury looking back at him with a titled head.

Suddenly, it all made sense…

The twins' plan for him weren't finished!

He quickly turned towards the Viking crew that had gave delivered him the message. "You! Who the Hel are you loyal to? Me or my subordinates!?" Hiccup grabbed the man's collar.

"I-I- the twins said that you would like the prank!" he stuttered and Hiccup was close to take action but Sigurd put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"You can punish him later. The twins are still in the castle," Sigurd said and Hiccup's eyes widened in realization.

"Dammit!" Hiccup cursed and released the man before heading back towards the castle.

**…**

"Now it made sense…" Elsa said and placed a hand on her forehead.

The Vikings tried _almost _everything…except…

The reason why King Hiccup was angry was because…

If Elsa never lived her life the way it is, she wouldn't understood what the twins did.

"So I take it that you…tricked him to get out his kingdom and come here?" Elsa said and the twins were shocked that the Queen caught on so fast.

After all, Anna had tried a lot of things to get Elsa out of her room during their isolation years.

"Yes…" Ruffnut said.

King Hiccup was angry for a lot of reason. One for being tricked and the other was because he was still grieving.

"And that trick involves the marriage proposal, am I correct?" Elsa said, her voice was devoid of any emotion.

"Yes..." Tuffnut said this time.

Anna's eyes widened. "So it wasn't King Hiccup's decision in the first place!"

The twins nodded and Anna turned to look at Elsa.

Elsa sighed. Fortunately for her and everyone, she had been through this kind of situation before. Situation where her suitor wasn't interested in her and only want her to advance their goal, just like how the Vikings were doing.

"We're sorry Your Majesty, but Hiccup wouldn't have set foot here unless drastic measures were taken!" Ruffnut explained.

"Then what?" Elsa asked. "You've managed to get him here, so what then?"

"Well…we hoped that when Hiccup has arrived here, he would change his mind," Ruffnut answered.

"It doesn't seem to be working…" Anna said and the twins looked sheepish.

"It's…umm…we kind of expected that," Tuffnut answered. "We actually hoped that Queen Elsa would be the one able to convince him,"

Elsa closed her eyes and internally sighed. She expected this.

Anna gasped. "You're just using my sister!"

The twins were taken aback. "N-no! We're not!"

"Mr. Tuffnut and Mrs. Ruffnut," Elsa said and the room became silent. "Why do you choose _now _to tell me of your plan? Why not when we first met?"

The twins looked guilty at this. "We-we thought that maybe you won't trust us and you wouldn't help,"

"That would be my decision to make, yes?" Elsa said in a low voice. The temperature in the room began to drop and the twins nodded quickly.

Elsa had enough. She had enough of being treated as a pawn in other people's game without her consent. She had enough of being seen as…_something _else.

The Snow Queen then began to grow tired and angry of games and manipulations.

'No more,' that was all Elsa could think of right now.

"And so you chose to tell me now, leaving me with little time to decide and thus, it would pressure me to do as you planned. Correct?" Elsa said and opened her eyes slowly. Frost began to creep into the room and everyone began to look worried.

"We-we…" the twins looked at each other.

'Bingo,' Elsa thought.

"Then isn't that the definition of _using me?" _Elsa said dangerously.

The twins sighed. "It does seem that way, now that we think about it. We're sorry," Ruffnut said. "We thought-no, we were banking on your kindness and understanding, Queen Elsa!"

Elsa didn't respond.

"We thought that you would understand Hiccup, because…of what you've been through. You both seem similar!" Ruffnut continued.

At this Elsa's anger began to rise. How dare these people presumed to know about her!? About her pain and suffering!? The things that she had to go through alone for most of her life!?

"Similar? In what way? Did your King has to live in fear of hurting everyone for years!? To lock himself away from society and the world because of that fear!? Does he wield a power that could harm the very people that he was sworn to protect!? Is he literally of a different breed than anyone else!?" Elsa got to her feet quickly which startled everyone.

"Well-no, not lite-" Tuffnut said but Elsa cut her off.

"Then in what way we are similar!?" Elsa said loudly which began to worry Anna. "You dare to involve me, a Queen in your scheme? You dare to presume that you know me?"

Which was hypocritical. Wasn't she the one that assumed the worst of the Vikings before their arrival?

"You thought that I would jumped at the chance to appease your King like some love struck fool!?"

"N-no!" the twins said but Elsa wasn't finished.

"You didn't even think that I would get angry, didn't you?" Elsa narrowed her eyes at the twins. "It shows that you didn't even consider my feelings or opinion on the matter!"

The twins looked guilty at this. In a way it was true.

It wasn't that they didn't consider her feelings at all. It was just that they considered it _wrong._

It was funny, they expected Hiccup to be angry and the Elsa to be calm and collected and understanding of their cause and would help them. They were quite certain that Elsa would help them and their cause of concern of failure would be Hiccup's unwillingness to listen to reason.

Now, it seemed that both of them would be unwilling to listen at all.

"Your Majesty please listen to us-" Ruffnut started but was cut off again.

"I've listened enough!" Elsa said and icicles sprouted behind her seat, earning a startled cry from Anna and the twins. Fear began to show on their faces and it hurt Elsa to see it on Anna.

But her emotions doesn't allow her to stop. Elsa has experienced many emotions before, but anger was one the rarest emotion she had the luxury to display.

It felt _good _and _empowering. _

Maybe, if she just showed these people that she wasn't to be trifled with…

"If you've approached me earlier, I might have believed in your cause and help you. Now I'm not sure whether this-this _plan _of yours is like what you said it is! Perhaps it's just another diabolical scheme by you, your King and your kingdom!" Elsa said and the twins, to their credit, wasn't afraid anymore.

Anna gasped at this. "Elsa!"

Elsa was shocked that her sister wasn't siding with her. "You can't honestly believe them! Remember Hans?"

"I do but-" Anna said but was cut off by Ruffnut.

"Excuse me? You think that we have ulterior motives for doing this? We know what we did was wrong, but we were desperate! We did it with the best intentions in mind!" Ruffnut defended and Elsa glared at her.

"Good intentions doesn't justify a wrong action. Is a man that robbed, hurt and killed people to feed his family innocent?" Elsa asked.

"No but-"

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions. You and your King should do well to remember that," Elsa said and Anna gasped.

"Elsa!" Anna said and got to her feet. Elsa ignored her.

"Now leave, I have my own kingdom to care about. I do not have the time to worry about other kingdoms," Elsa said and Anna gave her a disbelieving look.

The twins then got to their feet as well, which worried Anna.

"What we did was wrong, and we apologize," Tuffnut said. "And we thought that you would understand Hiccup because of what you went through. But you're right, you _don't _understand,"

Elsa's eyes widened and was about to retort when Ruffnut cut her off.

"You and your kingdom never went to war so you don't know what we've went through. You and your kingdom are lucky to have that luxury. You don't know what we _would_ do to prevent going through another one, even despicable it may be. We thought that _you_, of all people should know that," Ruffnut said and with a bit of venom in her voice as she stared at Elsa.

Anna's eyes however, widened as she heard the Vikings. Anna understood them.

"Contrary to popular belief, not all of us Vikings loved to fight," Ruffnut said and began to turn around.

"We didn't tell you because we were desperate for you to help us…because you're the only one we believed in. But it looks like we believed _wrong," _Ruffnut said again.

Elsa's gaze softened at hearing this.

"Good day, _Queen _Elsa," Tuffnut said and the both of them didn't even bother to bow before taking their leave.

Once the twins were gone, Anna turned to her sister sharply. "I can't believe you!"

Elsa was shocked at this.

"What have gotten into you!? What happened to my..._cool_ sister!?" Anna asked and Elsa winced at the pun of sorts.

"Me!? I'm the victim here!" Elsa defended.

"That may be! But you could have use your own advice and handle it better-better than King Hiccup! You're not like this!" Anna said and Elsa was miffed that her sister, the very same sister that she had to keep in check in the presence of important people, was lecturing her.

"Oh so I'm not allowed to get angry then!?" Elsa retorted. "That I shouldn't feel? That I should conceal? That I shouldn't let people know that I have emotions as well?"

"I didn't say that! You can get angry, but not in front of them!" Anna said and Elsa's anger began to rise again.

"How could you side with them? Don't you remember what Hans did to us?" Elsa asked.

"Of course I do! I'm the one that experienced the betrayal! Not you!" Anna said loudly and stared at her sister, daring Elsa to challenge her on that statement. Elsa was taken aback and turned her gaze away. "You're just using the Vikings to release your pent up anger! It's not fair and it's unlike you!"

Elsa turned to look at her sister again. "Well maybe it's because I'm tired of being seen as a chess piece, tired of-of being seen as the Snow Queen! I'm tired that people would only want me because of my title, because of my kingdom and because my powers!"

Anna's eyes widened and this she didn't say anything. She just stood there and watched her sister.

Elsa couldn't stare the stare anymore and turned around and was about to leave when Anna hugged her from behind.

"I understand, Elsa," Anna said and placed her head on Elsa's shoulder.

Elsa was quiet for a moment before she responded. "You do?" Elsa said softly and Anna hummed in response.

Although both sisters promised each other that there will be no more secrets between them, it was easier said than done. They both do it thinking that it was to protect each other.

"I understand that even though you said that you didn't care when people could only see you as the Snow Queen, you actually cared. I understand that even though you said that you no longer cared when you see fear in people that doesn't understand, you actually cared," Anna said. "That it hurts you when people called you a monster, witch, Ice Queen. That they judged you before knowing you,"

Elsa stayed silent.

"I understand. I went through the same thing…well not exactly the same but almost," Anna continued and Elsa's eyes widened.

"What-"

"I was the spare and not a good one at that. Some people actually feared at the prospect of having me on the throne. I guess that's why there's no plan to remove you from the throne," Anna chuckled. "And what's more is that my child would face the same stigma if not worse because Kristoff wasn't royalty. My child would be the 'acceptable' replacement until you have your own,"

Elsa's eyes narrowed in anger. "Who-" Elsa wanted to break away from her sister's hug but Anna only tightened her hold.

This was why they both didn't tell each other this particular secret of theirs. Anna would be overly critical of any suitor that even looked at her sister funny. Elsa would probably freeze the entire kingdom to stop people from saying bad things about Anna.

"It doesn't matter, I've learned to ignore it," Anna said and Elsa stopped struggling.

"But to ignore doesn't mean you don't feel it," Elsa said and Anna hummed in response.

"Sometimes, that's all you could do to get what you want," Anna replied. "I ignored your requests to be alone back then, and look what happened,"

Elsa giggled and she felt her anger subside. "But if you ignored me, then none of this would ever happened, no?"

Anna shrugged. "True, it was ironic I guess? You just have to ignore those that don't care about you until the right person just…decided to ignore to care enough, if that makes sense,"

Elsa giggled again. "It does. It's just like you, you ignore my privacy because you care,"

Anna chuckled. "So, are you…_cool _enough?"

Elsa grinned and elbowed her sister.

"Good. I don't like seeing you angry, Elsa. I mean, you can get angry but…not like this," Anna said and began to slowly sway on the spot with her sister.

"Why?"

"Because it makes you…evil? I mean, you were always so selfless, even when you could be selfish," Anna explained. "Seeing you angry like this that it makes you selfish…it's…I don't like it,"

Elsa sighed at this. "Because I'm always _cool, _isn't it? Because the Snow Queen must always be _cool, _calm and collected?"

Anna giggled. "Yes. Elsa, I know that you don't like it to be seen as the Snow Queen but it's a part of what you are,"

Elsa cringed at this.

Anna knew that it probably wasn't what Elsa wanted to hear right now but it was probably what she needed to hear.

Anna noticed something about Elsa. When something bad happened because of her powers, she would grow to dislike it. But when something good happens because of it, she would like it.

To Anna, Elsa didn't truly love the Snow Queen part of her. Only accepting the good while rejecting the bad was not how to love. You have to accept both the good and the bad.

"I for one, love having the Snow Queen as my sister! I have like, the _coolest_ sister ever!"

Elsa smiled at this.

"Elsa, no one in the world could turn a blind eye to the Snow Queen just to see Elsa," Anna said and Elsa's smile faded. "People won't stop seeing you as the Snow Queen,"

"I know. I just…want people to see Elsa as well,"

"But the Snow Queen is Elsa," Anna said and Elsa's eyes widened.

"You could have become _the _evil Snow Queen, but you're not!" Anna said cheerfully.

"Didn't stop people from fearing me," Elsa said softly.

"People fear what they don't understand, just like when you didn't understand your powers. They don't understand you but I do," Anna replied.

Elsa sighed.

"And the right person that are able understand you will come one day. I promise. But right now, the Vikings understood you as well," Anna said and Elsa tried to turn her head at her sister.

"You believe in the Vikings?" Elsa asked and Anna giggled.

"I want to believe in them," was Anna's reply.

"What!?"

Anna giggled again. "I can't explain it but...well to be honest, I don't like that Hiccup since you know, he's an ass,"

"Anna!"

"It's true! But I believe the twins," Anna said.

"Why? For all we know, their plan could be a ploy," Elsa said, still not convinced.

"A very risky plan that wasn't executed well?" Anna explained. "A plan that if done in some other kingdom would most likely fail and turn against them horribly? In fact, if they had told us when we first met, I don't think I would believe them,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this.

"They did this because were desperate. They were scared of you refusing them or taking advantage of the situation. They didn't want to think that you would refuse because they desperately want you to help them," Anna said.

Elsa's gaze softened at this. 'Is it true?' Elsa could only thought.

"How would you know?"

"I don't know. I guess maybe because the Vikings wore their hearts on their sleeve, unlike the usual royals and nobles we're used to? Besides, what's the harm if we helped them anyway? The twins just want you to change their King's mind, that's all. If he still wants to marry you in the end, it's up to you whether to accept or not," Anna said.

"That's…true,"

"Besides, King Hiccup…is similar to you. I know not literally but you know what I mean," Anna said and Elsa closed her eyes to think about it.

Elsa's power was her magic. Hiccup's was his dragons.

They both wanted to protect the people around them from the misuse of said powers.

To protect the people that he cared about, Hiccup chose isolation, just like she used to.

Hiccup…was afraid, just like she was.

"That's true," Elsa said and she was ashamed. The twins were right; she was similar to Hiccup more than she thought. Perhaps that was why they wanted her help.

"Besides, I know for sure that we would regret not helping them if they were right. What if a rebellion did happen? What if somebody else replaced them? Someone…ruthless," Anna said and Elsa nodded.

If the Vikings came with their dragons to invade her kingdom, it would be her fault.

It was then Elsa came to a realization.

"How…did you…see all of this? I mean I-"

Anna gasped. "I couldn't believe you! I know I'm not as smart as you, but I'm not stupid!"

Elsa's widened in surprise and tried to break free but Anna's hug was stronger. "I didn't mean that!"

Anna giggled and Elsa knew that her sister was kidding. "Just kidding!"

Elsa stopped her struggling and giggled as well.

"Simple, I wasn't angry," Anna answered. "You could have seen it too, you know,"

Elsa sighed and her head slumped in shame. "I took the wrong time to let out all those pent-up anger, didn't I?"

Anna giggled again. "Well, in your defense, it was rare for you to go crazy,"

Elsa elbowed her sister and smiled.

"Anna, you would make a great Queen,"

"Do you believe that?"

"I know it,"

**…**

"Well, what now? We blew it," Ruffnut said and Tuffnut kicked an imaginary pebble away.

"We? She's the one that blew it!" Tuffnut said angrily.

"It wasn't her fault. If Hiccup could get mad, so can she. Besides, she was right. No, everyone was right. We could have done this better," Ruffnut said and Tuffnut clicked his tongue before leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.

"So what now?" Ruffnut asked.

"I don't know, we're dead either way," Tuffnut said when suddenly he saw a fuming Hiccup walking towards them. "Ah shit!"

The twins didn't have much time to reach when Hiccup took the both of them by surprise and pinned to the wall, with his hands gripping their throat.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Hiccup said dangerously. "I thought you said that you don't want to humiliate me, but talking to the Queen behind my back, _again?" _

The twins began to gag as Hiccup's grip grew tighter. They tried to break free but Hiccup was surprisingly strong.

"Hiccup-" Sigurd tried.

"Stay out of this!" Hiccup warned and Sigurd hesitated. "What did you tell her, huh? All of our kingdom's problems? That I couldn't rule my own kingdom!?"

Hiccup was incredibly furious that he was seeing red so much that the thought of choking the twins to death was so tempting at the moment.

It wasn't until a voice distracted him from behind.

"King Hiccup!"

Hiccup still didn't release the twins and tightened his grip even more.

'Fucking great! Now she saw everything too!' Hiccup thought.

"I will not tolerate violence in my presence!" Elsa commanded and frost began to creep on the floor.

Hiccup still didn't respond and everyone waited with bated breath.

"Or what?" Hiccup challenged.

"Or it will be grounds for war. If this is the example you set for your kingdom, then I will perceive your people as threat," Elsa answered the challenge.

Hiccup glared at the twins, as if saying that it was their fault. It took a moment but Hiccup sighed and lowered his head. He then released the twins and began to walk way until Elsa spoke.

"I would like to speak to you," Elsa said and Hiccup stopped. "I _insist," _Elsa said with a commanding tone. She didn't even wait for Hiccup's reply before turning and walked away.

She was the Queen after all.

Hiccup clenched his fists and sighed again before turning to follow the Queen.

Sigurd followed quickly but the twins stayed behind to nurse their throat and regain their strength.

Anna walked towards them with a grin. "You owe me,"

The twins gave her a puzzled look for a second before they understood and smiled.

"Come on, let's see my sister do her magic!"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Phew! Glad that was over! Elsa's outburst was the hardest and has been rewritten many times! The first time it made Elsa sounded OOCish and immaturish. Hope this one isn't like that. Oh well.

Read and Review!


	10. Chapter 9: How To Checkmate A Black King

**Author's Note: **Guest reader **nathan isaac **ask me how many hits I've had until the previous chapter. I didn't check it to be honest, just the reviews. But as of this chapter, the hits are 34,569 views! That is a lot! Thanks readers!

* * *

**CHAPTER 9 – How To Checkmate The Black King**

To be a ruler was not easy. There were many things that one need to learn and one of them was how to _conceal._

Of course, when her father taught her to conceal, it doesn't just apply to her powers but also her feelings.

It wasn't that her father wanted her to be a completely emotionless person, oh no. Rather, to conceal what you feel, especially negative feelings was an important trait to have when you are the ruler.

You were disgusted by foreign food or culture? Don't let it show in front of their representatives or risk insulting them.

Your kingdom is on fire? Feel free to panic but do it on the _inside. _Don't let your people know you're panicking or it will only add to the chaos.

Queen Elsa of Arendelle was quite good when it comes to conceal what she felt and thought on the _outside. _Most people would be fooled by her performance. The keyword here was _most._

The Queen of Arendelle was calmly walking towards her study, with Kai following a few steps behind and her guests lagging far behind. On the outside, she looked normal as if doing her usual Queenly duties.

But on the inside…

'What on earth am I going to do!?' Elsa thought. 'How am I going to convince King Hiccup?'

You can't blame Elsa for panicking. After all, it wasn't like every day she has to advice fellow rulers on how to run their kingdom. Said fellow rulers have their own advisors for that. That and they don't come out in the open that they need to be told on such matters.

Added to the fact that, Elsa thought that she wasn't the best person to do this. After all, she has been a Queen for at most what, two years?

Still, she has agreed to tackle this matter. The wonderful question was of course, _how?_

She could just be blunt and straight to the point.

"_King Hiccup! The way you are running your kingdom is wrong! You must do as I say!"_

Elsa envisioned the scenario. She wasn't going to say it like that of course.

"_Why should I listen to you? You're not my Queen!" _

That was what Elsa thought King Hiccup would say.

But then her mind decided to venture off track for a moment with a single thought.

"_My Queen!"_

Elsa blushed as she remembered her dream she had of the Vikings.

The Queen then shook her head to clear the treacherous thoughts away. He wasn't interested, was what she told herself.

Elsa's train of thought then returned to its original tracks and she inwardly sighed.

If she did went straight to the point, King Hiccup's response would be just like that.

'It would be spot-on, given his state of mind,' Elsa thought.

It was then that Elsa realized that she would need another approach. But again, the question was, what kind of approach?

Before she could think of anything however, she has arrived in front of her study with Kai at the door.

"Your Majesty," Kai nodded and opened the door for her. Elsa returned the nod but didn't enter just yet.

"King Hiccup, please enter and make yourself comfortable. I will be following you shortly," Elsa said and gestured into her study and King Hiccup just gave her a blank look for a moment before entering and Kai closed the door.

Sigurd, the bodyguard didn't follow, thankfully. Elsa was about to tell him that she needed to speak with his King alone. What Sigurd did next caught Elsa off guard.

"Good luck," he said slowly, not wanting his King to hear him. Sigurd then went a few feet away, crossed his arms and leaned on the wall.

The twins approached her with a soft smile. "Thank you," they said softly and Elsa shook his head.

"Don't thank me yet," Elsa said with a smile. "And I apologize for my outburst earlier,"

Tuffnut waved an arm at her. "Nah, it's our fault anyway," he said and the twins went towards Sigurd.

As if on cue, Anna approached her next. "So, are you ready?" Anna asked and Elsa sighed.

"I don't know how to do this Anna," Elsa asked. "I know for sure that he wouldn't listen if I went straight to the point,"

"Of course he would, silly!" Anna answered. "You don't stoke the fire to put it out! Instead, _cool _him down,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at her and Anna only gave her a devious grin.

Then, slowly, Elsa mirrored her sister's grin.

**…**

The royal study was a beautiful room, Hiccup noted. This was the first royal study that he ever had the chance to be in and perhaps, the last.

Hiccup sighed and went towards the window overlooking the town. Arendelle was indeed a beautiful place but that wasn't what on his mind currently. He was busy thinking of what should he do or say to the Queen.

If he guessed it correctly, the twins knew that he won't simply change his mind just by coming here. Thus, the twins decided to gain the Queen's help instead. And it seems that they have succeeded.

Now the Queen might be coming any moment to…to do what, exactly? Lecture him? Give lessons and tips on how to run a kingdom? Advise him?

'Great, another one trying to tell me how to do stuff. Next thing you know, everybody's going to tell me this and that,' Hiccup thought.

No, he doesn't need any more people telling him what to do, especially from an outsider that doesn't have dragons included in her kingdom.

He would just apologize for his behaviour during his stay and excuse himself before she would even have the chance to speak. Even if she still insist on him staying, he would still leave.

Hiccup then heard the sound of the door being opened and he sighed as he steeled himself.

Hiccup turned around and began his move. "Your Majesty-"

SMACK!

Only to have his face pelted by a snowball.

'What,' was the only that came to his mind.

**…**

'Oh my,' Elsa thought as she watched the snowball that she threw hit the Viking King square in the face.

'Oh my!' Elsa thought again. That…was a bold thing for her to do, for she had just practically ambushed the Viking King with a snowball.

The Viking King then slowly brought his hand to his face and oh, ever so slowly, he wiped the snow away.

"What is the-"

Elsa conjured a snowball and threw it at his face again.

'Oh my gosh!' Elsa thought. Her face was the epitome of calm but on the inside, she was feeling excited! It was just like when she was doing something that she wasn't supposed to do like breaking the rules with Anna sometimes.

The Viking King reacted more quickly this time. He wiped his face clean and brought his other hand to shield him from future attack.

Elsa responded by conjuring multiple snowballs, levitated them in the air, and pelted the Viking King continuously.

SMACK! SMACK!

"Hey-hey!" King Hiccup said as he tried in vain to stop the snow onslaught.

SMACK!

This wasn't going too well for Hiccup. First he was tricked by his subordinates twice, then had his shortcomings as a ruler told to the Snow Queen and now, the Snow Queen herself was humiliating him.

Hiccup's anger reached his boiling point and he screamed. "STOP IT!"

Elsa was startled by the cry and immediately stop her assault. She then stared into a set of furious green eyes that reminded her of the Viking King in her dream.

Fear began to creep into her being as she was reminded of the man that conquered dragons, united the Vikings and…didn't fear her.

The both of them were silent for a while until Hiccup closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then opened his eyes and began to spoke. "Look, Queen Elsa, I don't know what you're trying to do, but I'm not in the mood for it,"

Elsa was silent as she thought of her next move. Hiccup thought that he was winning the battle and was about to speak again when Elsa cut him off.

"I noticed. So you're angry," Elsa tried and Hiccup rolled his eyes at the obvious statement.

"Thank you for noticing," Hiccup said and was about to move away from the window when Elsa spoke again.

"Angry at who? Why?" Elsa asked.

Hiccup glared at the Queen. 'Is she playing with me? She damn well know why!' Hiccup thought.

"It's not your business," Hiccup replied and Elsa crossed her arms.

"I believe it is. Are you angry at my kingdom? Did we do something wrong to offend you?" Elsa asked and Hiccup took a deep breath before answering.

"No. You…did nothing wrong," Hiccup hesitantly answered and Elsa knew why. Hiccup didn't want to imply that she had something to do with his anger.

"Then is your anger to me or my kingdom justified?" Elsa asked again and Hiccup's eyes widened at this. She was right, Hiccup's cause of anger wasn't because of her.

Her cold logic was like as if an icicle had speared through Hiccup's chest.

'Ouch,' he internally cringed.

"No…" Hiccup looked away, too ashamed to look at her.

Elsa smiled. She had read a lot of books during her isolation years and anger management was one of them (which helped her a lot back then).

One of the way to beat anger was logic. Make them see reason why their anger was bad. Another was to use shame. Of course, this was a risky move. The shame must be appropriate and as well as not to use too much of it or it will backfire horribly.

"And I had no part in your emissaries' plan beforehand. I only knew it after you left us at lunch. If anything, I'm the victim here as I was used as a pawn!" Elsa said, this time with more confidence in her voice.

Another stab of figurative icicle and Hiccup's head lowered. 'Ouch again,'

"So is it fair then for you to be angry and rude at my kingdom when we did our best to be hospitable?" Elsa asked.

Hiccup felt the stab of another icicle and his shoulder slumped. 'Urgh!'

Elsa smiled at this. She was doing well! Now that she had caused an avalanche, it cannot be stopped!

"And don't get me wrong! I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for my kingdom. I won't have my guests be unhappy during their stay here! It would be bad for my kingdom's reputation to be known as a bad host," Elsa answered, which was in a way true.

Another icicle went through him. 'Damn it!'

Hiccup felt like a self-absorbed jerk if he thought that what the Queen did was only for him. At this point, Hiccup fell to his knees.

"It's not like I'm going to blab anyway," Hiccup said softly, his flames of anger was dissipated by the Queen's _coldness._

"Perhaps, but it didn't change the fact that you're still angry," Elsa said. "If you're angry at your _own _people and kingdom, then be angry at home! Since that you don't have a valid reason to be angry at my kingdom, then I suggest that you stop being angry here!" Elsa practically commanded.

At this point, Hiccup felt like he was buried in an avalanche as he got on all fours. Elsa was right in every way. Hiccup's anger was misplaced. In his fury, he had been nothing but a stick in the ass towards his hosts, who had done nothing wrong.

Hiccup was many thing, but being an undeserving jerk (or just a jerk) towards anyone, especially a girl was not his style.

"Please…just kill me already," Hiccup croaked from the embarrassment that he felt.

Elsa giggled and with a wave of a hand, dumped a pile of snow on Hiccup's head.

Hiccup didn't respond and this had Elsa worried.

"So, have you _cooled _your head then?" Elsa asked. Hiccup sighed and got to his knees again. Their eyes then made contact with each other again.

"Yeah, I guess," Hiccup shrugged with a soft smile.

It was the first time Elsa had seen a smile adorned Hiccup's face. Suddenly, Elsa felt a blush creeping on her neck and her heart beat rised.

She was right; Hiccup looked more beautiful with a smile than frown.

'Stop it! Don't fall for someone that won't like you back!' Elsa chided herself.

Elsa looked away to stop herself from getting even more red. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this and suddenly, he had an idea.

SMACK!

Elsa stood still as a statue as her mind tried to comprehend what had happened. A snowball had just hit her on her face!

Elsa turned to find the culprit, only to find him hiding behind her study desk. She saw a head with a devious grin pop out for a second…

'Oh my,' Elsa thought, as she found herself distracted by the rather…_sexy _grin.

SMACK! SMACK!

Only to have her face and chest pelted by snowballs.

"What's the matter, _Snow Queen? _You can dish out the _cold _but you can't take them?" a voice taunted her.

Elsa grinned. "The cold never bothered me anyway!"

Elsa waved her arm and soon snowballs appeared on her side as well as Hiccup's.

"Well, I should tell you, we Vikings are the sons of snow!" Hiccup replied and they began pelting each other with snowballs.

Soon the royal study was filled with laughter and the sound of snowballs hitting various surfaces of the room. This would go on for a few minutes, as the both of them tried to hit each other with snowballs. So far, Hiccup had the advantage as he was protected by her desk while she was out in the open.

It didn't stop them from having fun, however.

'Oh my! How did it come to this?' Elsa thought. 'Well, I did ambushed him first!'

"Get out of there and face me like a man!" Elsa said with a laughter as she tried to attack Hiccup.

"And what, let go of my only advantage I have against the _Snow Queen?_" Hiccup replied.

And he was right, the cover was proving to be effective against her.

Elsa then smiled, only to have it covered by a snow.

"I see that you really like the snow!" Hiccup said with a grin.

Elsa wiped the snow off from her face and grinned.

Elsa waved her hand and suddenly a large pile of snow materialized on top of Hiccup and fell on him.

"Gah!"

Elsa's grin grew larger. She waved her hand again and the pile of snow moved away from the desk and stopped under a window, carrying its victim along.

Hiccup's head popped from the snow pile and shook his head off from the snow. He couldn't free his body, however.

"You didn't really think you can beat the _Snow Queen _with her own element, do you?" Elsa asked and Hiccup let out a short laugh.

His laughter vibrated well within Elsa and she found out that she _liked_ his laughter.

"Point made. But you can't blame me for trying," Hiccup replied.

Elsa smiled. "True. Now, I've won our little skirmish and I believe that you...are my prisoner of war," Elsa said, still high with the positive rush of their snowball fight. "So what should I do to you, I wonder?"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her. "Eh?"

Suddenly, Anna's face flashed in Elsa's mind. She grinned and with a wave of her hand, the pile of snow covering Hiccup shifted towards his hands and arms. The snow then turn to ice and pinned Hiccup's hands to the wall and his leg to the floor, leaving his torso exposed to the Snow Queen.

The Viking King has indeed became the Snow Queen's prisoner of war.

Hiccup chuckled nervously. "Wha-what did you have in mind actually?"

Elsa gave a sly smile and with a predatory gleam in her eyes, she sauntered towards Hiccup rather _slowly. _Hiccup's eyes widened at this and felt his heartbeat raising and a blush creeping up his neck.

Had Elsa worn her Snow Queen dress, the effect on Hiccup would be much greater.

"Uh...uh…Queen Elsa?" Hiccup nervously said as he squirmed to break free of his icy bonds.

Elsa reached Hiccup's side and stood tall over him. Seeing the Viking King bound at her mercy, _squirming _no less and to hear him calling her _Queen _gave her a wonderful feeling.

She felt _confident, empowered _and...a bit excited.

'Oh my! What a compromising situation we are in,' Elsa thought. 'Should I stop?'

It wasn't like she did this with all the suitors that had met her. This was perhaps, a once in a lifetime chance.

'On a second thought, no,' Elsa thought and crouched gracefully (with both of her legs closed, of course) in front of Hiccup. Hiccup, in all his life, had never seen such a graceful creature such as Elsa before.

Elsa put her left hand on her knee while her right hand tapped her chin, as if pondering a question.

"I wonder, is the Viking King…ticklish?" Elsa asked sultrily.

"Eeh?" Hiccup blurted. "I-I believe he is!"

"Believe? It seems that the Viking King himself isn't sure. Maybe I should try and see if he really is ticklish, hmm?" Elsa said with a devious grin.

Hiccup's eyes widened at this. "No no no! I mean, he is ticklish! So-so you don't have to tickle him or anything!"

"Oh! The Viking King is indeed ticklish? This, I have to see," Elsa said and brought her hands towards Hiccup.

"Wait wait wait! We don't have to do this!"

However, his words fell on deaf ears as the Snow Queen proceeded to tickle him mercilessly. Soon, the royal study was filled with laughter once again.

**…**

Kristoff, ever since meeting the Royal Sisters, had another role aside from being the Royal Icemaster and Deliverer. That role was to babysit Olaf the Snowman when foreign dignitaries came to Arendelle and practically, keep him out of their sight.

It wasn't because they were embarrassed of the cheerful Snowman, oh no. It was because of the implications that could arise when seeing a _living and sentient snowman _that was created by a human.

They had agreed that most of the world would not understand and accept Elsa's special talent. If Elsa wasn't royalty, she might have been burned at the stake instead of sitting on a throne. Of course, that still doesn't dispel the fear that people had of her.

The fear…was well founded to those that weren't use to it or hadn't known the Snow Queen. Able to conjure snow and ice from almost nothing? Create ices that doesn't behave like normal ice should? Freeze people magically?

Of course, people tolerated it because it was still within their acceptable range of comprehension and acceptance of things. But able to create a life?

The religious fanatics would cry for her to be put down in the name of their god.

Which was funny; if Elsa had lived hundreds years in the past, she would be worshipped as a goddess instead.

And so, Kristoff had the important role of making sure that Olaf doesn't stray and met foreign dignitaries, which proved to be harder than it sounds. This was because Olaf, by nature, doesn't like to be alone if he can help it.

It wasn't surprising as she was created from Elsa's desire for _warmth _and human contact.

Usually, when the foreign dignitaries came, Kristoff would send Olaf with the trolls. The trolls were more than enough to keep Olaf busy for the whole day until Kristoff came to pick him up. Funnily enough, that would make the trolls babysitters themselves, and he was the proof.

Now, usually Kristoff would send Olaf early and would be back for meals with the Royal Sisters and their guests.

Kristoff didn't like having meals with foreign dignitaries. They would give him weird looks as if questioning why he was there in the same room as them. Of course, that was why he needed to be there as Elsa had told him; to remind them who he is and who he will be.

Kristoff smiled. Although Elsa didn't say it outright, Kristoff understood it; Elsa had given her blessing to be with Anna.

Anyway, back to the matter. Because of the Vikings sudden arrival this morning, Kristoff didn't have time to make it back for lunch and he hope nothing bad had happened. He arrived at the castle and instantly asked where the Royal Sisters was. Luckily, they were still in the castle and Kristoff found Anna soon enough.

Only to see her, the Viking twins, an armored Viking, _Kai and Gerda _of all people, putting their ears on the doors of the royal study.

Kristoff raised an eyebrow at this and not wanting to startle the eavesdroppers and perhaps, their _victims _inside the royal study, tapped Anna on her shoulder.

Anna turned around and squealed when meeting with Kristoff.

"Kristoff!" Anna said quietly. "You wouldn't believe what happened!"

Kristoff was about to say something when Anna interrupted.

"I'll explain later, for now, just listen!" Anna said and took Kristoff's arm to join in the Royal Eavesdroppers Club.

And sure enough, Kristoff could hear the sounds of Elsa and a man laughing inside the room with the occasional sound of something soft hitting a surface.

"They're having a snowball fight!" Anna almost squealed.

This would go on for a few minutes until a momentary silence followed. And then a full out laughter could be heard.

"Is the Queen…tickling the Viking King?" Gerda asked with a disbelieving look.

Anna nodded furiously with a proud look. She then puffed her chest. "I'm proud of you sister!"

Kristoff could only roll his eyes with a smile.

**…**

"You…you _fiend_!" Hiccup said while catching his breath. Being bound and tickled by a royalty was not something he ever expected at all.

Elsa smiled before she broke into a laughter. She had never expected to tickle another royalty before! This certainly was unorthodox to her but fun and refreshing! Not to mention very bold.

Hiccup didn't say anything but instead smiled. He found out that he…kind of like her laugh and was content to enjoy it for as long as he could.

Soon, Elsa's laughing fit was over and she found the Viking King was staring at her with a smile. She blushed and look away before composing herself again. She then released the Viking King from his icy bonds with a flick of her wrist.

"That was fun," Hiccup said.

"It was," Elsa said with a smile. "And now we shall build a snowman!" Elsa clasped her hands together. Her eyes, Hiccup noticed, was shining with anticipation and excitement, just like a child that wanted to play.

Hiccup smiled and decided to have a little bit of fun. "What? Why?" Hiccup asked.

"When you play with snow, snowball fight and building a snowman is a must!" Elsa replied.

"Uh-huh," Hiccup tried his best to look unconvinced and Elsa bought it. "And who says it has to be that way? I'm content with just snowball fight," Hiccup said and Elsa crossed her arms.

"Well, in case you've forgotten, I am the _Snow Queen _after all and thus, my word on everything that is related to snow is the law!" Elsa said with authority.

"That makes sense," Hiccup said.

"Of course it does!" Elsa replied rather childishly.

Hiccup laughed lightly at seeing the childish side of the Snow Queen. Elsa didn't understood why he was laughing and pouted.

In a normal situation, Elsa would have realized how she had acted and would have scolded herself for it. The way she was acting was unbecoming for a Queen. But somehow, right now, she wasn't a Queen with Hiccup.

"Alright, since the Snow Queen says so," Hiccup said "Let's build a snowman!"

Yes, she wasn't the Queen of Arendelle as of the moment but just the Snow Queen Elsa.

The both of them then began to build a snowman in silent. It wasn't the choking silence they had during their lunch, however. It was the good kind of silence as both of them were smiling as they didn't want to risk ruining the moment with words.

After a few minutes, the body of their snowman was complete. They didn't have anything to make the face but Elsa conjured thin stick-like arms made from ice and attached it to the snowman.

Before Hiccup could comment on it, however, Elsa did something that the both of them didn't expect.

Elsa used her hands to animate the arms as if the snowman was alive. She then hid her body as best as she could behind the snowman. Her face was also behind the snowman's head.

"Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" Elsa said in a different voice.

Hiccup was speechless for a moment at the sight. The silence was enough to make Elsa realized what she had done.

'Oh my!' Elsa thought as she blushed. 'This-this! I've never done this ever since I've created Olaf! This is so embarrassing,'

It was true. She used to animate her snowman by herself when she was little to amuse Anna. But ever since Olaf was given life, she stopped doing it in respect for the real Olaf.

'I must look like a fool!' Elsa thought and she was about to stop what she was doing until she felt a pair of strong arms _hugging _her!

"I...like warm hugs as well….and cuddles," Hiccup said and Elsa blushed.

'Oh my, oh my, oh my!' Elsa thought.

Elsa could count the number of people that had hugged her with the ten fingers on her hand. It wasn't much but Hiccup had made the list.

The both of them broke away and didn't look at each other for a minute before the awkward silence became unbearable.

"Right-right, so that was fun as well!" Hiccup broke the silence and made his trademark hand gestures.

Elsa realized this and giggled. "Yes, yes it was,"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck and was about to stand up. However, Elsa realized this and spoke. "King Hiccup?"

Hiccup stared at her for a moment. "Yes?"

"Can we…talk…about your problems?" Elsa asked and Hiccup's face was marred with a frown.

Hiccup groaned as he rolled his eyes. He thought that Elsa only wanted to cheer him up. It seems that everything he thought about her was wrong.

"Well, I did say I want to have a talk with you, correct? The prior activities were just…_ice breaking,_" Elsa said with a sly smile.

Hiccup sighed. She was right, again. Damn this woman and her logic!

"Besides, I hate to see my effort of cheering you up turns out to be temporary once you return to your home. I would like it to be permanent,_"_ Elsa said.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this and Elsa realized her mistake. She widened her eyes and blushed.

"I-I mean, it's-I-" Elsa stuttered as she tried to make sense of what she want to say and in honesty, herself.

The idea of having some sort of anything that is positively _permanent_ with the Viking King was very tempting. After all, King Hiccup definitely had the most progress with her so far compared to her other suitors.

But then, the fact hit her hard; she barely knew him.

And then she realized; this must what Anna had felt when she first met Hans. The first time of having experienced such a wonderful feeling and not wanting it to go away and then knowing that you might not get another chance?

How hypocrite of her.

What was more, if the other suitors were in the same situation, would she react the same?

Fortunately, while Elsa was warring with herself, so was Hiccup. He could just refuse her help but...

'What would that accomplish? I would still be in the same spot…maybe, we really could talk?' Hiccup thought.

Besides, there was no harm in doing it and Hiccup certainly didn't have anything to lose anyway.

"Alright," Hiccup said and this brought Elsa back to reality. "If it's alright with you, we can discuss my problem,"

Elsa smiled, glad that she didn't have to explain herself for her fumble earlier and that King Hiccup didn't took advantage of it. She was also glad that King Hiccup would finally listen to her.

She had won the battle, but not the war…yet.

"So…how do we do this?" Hiccup asked.

"Well…you don't have tell me from the start. Your twins did a good job at describing your problems," Elsa said. Hiccup groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I bet they do," Hiccup said.

Elsa giggled. "Please don't be mad at them, they have the best intention in mind,"

Hiccup gave Elsa a hard look that surprised her. "A lot of bad deeds were done with good intentions in mind. I am verywell aware of that fact,"

Elsa steeled herself. She thought that after the previous activities, King Hiccup would have lightened a bit and she could approach this matter in a more lighthearted manner. However, it seemed that her _ice breaking _were only able to break the surface.

She was treading on thin ice and she had to tread carefully, lest her effort would be gone to waste.

"That's true. But they did it because they care. If anything, their action mirrored yours. You have the best intentions for your people, but…" Elsa countered.

Hiccup clicked his tongue and looked away. Queen Elsa was right again. If anything, what the twins did was tame compared to what he had done.

Elsa shook her head. "I won't judge you for the actions that you had taken to come this far…and if anything, I don't think I had the qualifications to do so,"

Hiccup turned to look at her with a puzzled look.

"After all, you are a self-made King, whereas I'm a Queen through birthright. I did not experience the hardship that you went through to earn your title," Elsa said.

Hiccup sighed. "What is this? A pity competition to see who went through the most hardship? And then whoever wins gets kisses and huggies for prize?"

Elsa's eyes widened at this. "No! That wasn't-"

"I know what you mean but I don't want…" Hiccup avoided her eyes. "…making me feel that my suffering is greater than others is…it's not, alright? And I don't want to feel entitled for help or anything,"

Elsa's eyes softened at this as she realized that King Hiccup was trying to bear everything alone.

"Besides, what we went through might not be the same, but it doesn't necessarily mean the hardship isn't," Hiccup turned to look at her again. "To become a King is easy, but to keep it? You're certainly more experienced in keeping the throne than I do,"

Hearing that surprised Elsa. King Hiccup thought that what she went through is equal and perhaps greater than his but never less.

That line of thinking was just like…her.

It was then that Elsa was struck by an epiphany. The Snow Queen and the Viking King were mirror images of each other.

Each wanted to bear their burden alone.

They both thought that they're doing everyone that they love a favour by handling the burden alone.

They both thought that what they've went through, was nothing compared to what they had put others through.

Much like the hardship that Elsa had put Anna through, King Hiccup was when he had subjugated his friends and people to war to achieve his ideals.

It was unsettling to watch a mirror image of yourself and trying to fix the imperfections that you see. Perhaps…maybe if she could help the Viking King, she could better herself as well?

Elsa wrung her hands while she was deep in thought and Hiccup noticed this. But he didn't say anything and allowed Elsa her peace.

Soon, Elsa's focus had returned and she turned her attention to the Viking King again. "Well, I've only been Queen for two years,"

Hiccup snorted. "And you've been trained for it your whole life! I was barely the Chief to my tribe before I decided to be King,"

Elsa smiled. She was grateful that King Hiccup didn't allow either of them to win the so-called 'pity contest'. In a way, it made them equal and they didn't have to carefully tread around each other in fear of hurting their feelings.

It means that Elsa could go all out.

"That is indeed true. So that means I _am_ qualified to…_advise _you in such matters, yes?" Elsa said.

King Hiccup's eyes widened at hearing this. He could not back away from this, logically. The only way he could was through…_childish _means akin to a tantrum of a teenager that doesn't want to listen to reason.

Of course, if he did that, it would be embarrassing for someone of his rank.

"You…you set me up!" Hiccup accused.

Elsa smiled innocently. "How could I? I barely knew you, so how could I 'set you up'?" Elsa air quoted.

Hiccup pouted.

'Oh my!' Elsa blushed a bit at seeing the cute moment.

"I set myself up for that, didn't I?" Hiccup sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"I believe so, yes," Elsa replied. Hiccup groaned and took a handful of snow before rubbing it on his face and hair.

Elsa's eyes widened at this. She rarely had the chance to see a man so comfortable with snow before, well aside from Kristoff, that is.

A part of her was…excited by it.

Hiccup sighed in relief before continuing. "Alright…you got me," Hiccup smiled. "Let's discuss my problem,"

Elsa smiled. She feared that she had to tread carefully all the way through during their discussion. However, it seems that her fear was in fact, short lived.

"Alright,"

Elsa couldn't help but to think, 'Checkmate,'

* * *

**Author's Note: **I've started my study again, which means that updates will be sporadic in the future. The funny thing is, I might be able to update quicker because writing this when I should be studying makes it a form of procrastination, hahaha.

Read and Review!


	11. Chapter 10: To Thaw A Frozen Heart III

**Author's Note: **Alright readers! QnA Session!**  
**

Guest reader **Saph: **I understand what you mean. After all, conflicts in any form are what drive a story. But rest assured, something bad will happen…it's just going to take a long while to reach there. It's the calm before the storm, so to speak.

**Hergrim: **I'm glad you like it! About the previous chapter with the Elsa and Hiccup being a bit OOCish, I believe that in my story, it is unavoidable. The reason for it is because although the movie Frozen is about Elsa, the heroine is Anna, thus she gets the most exposure. We didn't know about Elsa as much as Anna and especially after the end of the movie. Since Elsa has grown comfortable with her powers, would she rule as the Snow Queen with a more cheerful attitude or as the serious Queen of Arendelle?

However, I like to think that Elsa got a bit carried away in her plan to cool down Hiccup, hence the snowball fight and tickling. After all, it wasn't like every day she got to do this and when you're doing something fun for the first time, you tend to get carried away (I know I do).

Hiccup's OOCish is because he's older than in the canon materials (even older than in the second movie, which I didn't have a lot of material to expand on currently), so I have expand his character according to my own interpretation and also because of what I've put him through.

And about the straight emotional kick to the gut, true, Elsa could have done that, but I'd think Hiccup would react differently, and perhaps not as positively as what Elsa had done. Sure, it might make Hiccup realize his error, but it will leave a long lasting sour taste in his mouth and he might be too embarrassed to stay at Arendelle any longer than necessary.

That is my reasoning for the OOCish, but I hope that it wasn't so much that the Elsa and Hiccup in my story has become different characters entirely.

**This chapter might contain Hiccup that is (depending on your interpretation), whiny and OOCish. The reason for this is explained in my response for reader ****Hergrim's ****review above. **

* * *

**CHAPTER 10 – How To Thaw A Frozen Heart III**

"Alright, so how do we do this?" the Viking King asked, not wanting to make the first move. He wanted to see how the Queen would handle this sensitive discussion.

The Snow Queen tapped her chin in consideration while looking away.

Hiccup smiled at this. 'She's cute,' Hiccup thought.

"Well, I could just give you the solution to the problem," Elsa said and Hiccup gave her a skeptical look. "That would be much easier,"

"Really? After all the buildup and the tension, we're just going to skip to the end? No climax at all?" Hiccup questioned and Elsa giggled.

"That's true," Elsa smiled. However, she didn't say anything else for a moment after that and they ended up staring at each other.

The truth was that, Elsa already knew a way to start, but she was afraid that the Viking King might not take it well. A risky move, but it was something that she has to do.

"I can tell that your problem is because you are…" Elsa hesitated to finish.

"Afraid?" Hiccup said with a calm face.

"…yes," Elsa answered. One of the many things that she had learned about ruling was how to properly play by rival rulers' egos. Rulers can be prideful and wars had been waged because of hurt pride. As such, it was important that the Queen did not hurt a foreign ruler's ego on purpose…unless of course, she was insulted first.

Pointing out a ruler's weakness was a very risky move.

Hiccup sighed. "Yeah…I am afraid. I'm afraid of a lot of things,"

Well, they've got this far. Might as well let the cat out of the bag.

Elsa smiled. "Can you tell me?" she said with a soft voice.

Not many would admit their weaknesses and mistakes willingly to repair them. But if they do, then to Elsa, they were not weak.

Hiccup looked down at his hands. "I…I was afraid of the world and my people,"

Elsa's widened at that. 'Afraid of his own people?' the Queen thought. Back then, Elsa was also afraid of the world but she was also afraid _for _her people.

Afraid of hurting them.

Elsa then remembered what the twins had told her and she understood. However, she wanted to hear Hiccup's own words.

"What do you mean?" Elsa asked. Hiccup sighed and started to gather snow in his hands.

"You know, when you ride a dragon, when you can _fly," _Hiccup placed a small sphere of snow on the ground and began to gather more snow. "The world becomes a lot bigger,"

Hiccup placed another small sphere of snow on top of the previous one he had built. Elsa realized that he was building a snowman.

"I wanted to explore the world, to see what was out there," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded.

In her years of isolation, there were many times that she wished she could have just…_let it all go _and explore the world outside of her castle. Of course, she couldn't do that and books became the means for her to explore the world instead.

"And I found out that the world was cruel and scary," Hiccup said as he finished his first miniature snowman.

Elsa was silent. She knew that fact, but only from the experience of others. She had heard of slavery, pillaging and other heinous acts against humanity but had never seen it happen in front of her eyes.

Hiccup was reluctant to continue. "What…did you see?" Elsa asked, egging Hiccup to go on. It was needed, for both of them.

Hiccup continued making more little snowmen. "A lot of things," he shrugged. "I've seen trail of bodies in the ocean. At first I thought that it was a shipwreck. But then I found out that those bodies were dumped from slave ships,"

Elsa's eyes widened at this.

"I found entire village oppressed by stronger forces for the resources on their land. I found how far man would go for greed," Hiccup continued.

"_People are what they love, Hiccup. And what they love is cargo. They love spices, and linens, and silks. And as long as it is delivered on time and in sufficient supply, then they are content, to be nothing more than figures on a ledger,"_

"_My, my, my! Such a beautiful and powerful beast! And from the looks of it, you managed to tame it? My, oh my, this changes everything. You and I, Sir Hiccup, can have a wonderful future together. What say you?"_

Hiccup remembered the conversation he had with the unsavory people he encountered during his travels.

"And then I met the man that would be my friend and eventually, enemy," Hiccup said sadly.

Elsa understood who it was. "Varin Hafrson,"

Hiccup nodded. "It's…sometimes I wished I never met him at all. He was as afraid as I am of the world. Because of that, we feed each other's fears and it grew,"

"What kind of person was he?" Elsa dared to ask about this person that was integral to Hiccup's past.

Hiccup smiled sadly. "He was…a hiccup like me," Hiccup said. "He was a good man at heart and he had good intentions but…"

_"The road to hell is paved with good intentions,"_

'I guess we all started with good intentions,' Hiccup thought.

Hiccup's smile faded as he finished another snowman. "Do you know he was a slave since he was fourteen? The same age as when I first learned that dragons can be tamed,"

Elsa's eyes widened. "And you've met him only a few years ago?"

Hiccup nodded. "He was forced to fight other people's war, forced to do heinous things to people that didn't harm him, forced to become something that he wasn't,"

"_Why are you helping me?" Hiccup asked the man in front of him._

"_Because I'm a Viking like you," the man said._

_Hiccup gave him a skeptical look. The man, Malcolm, didn't look like a Viking at all._

"_My name is Varin Hafrson," the man told Hiccup._

"_I thought your name is Malcolm?" Hiccup asked again._

"_My master didn't like my name, or my 'savage' background," _

"After all the things that he went through, he still had a good heart,"

"_I'm a monster, Hiccup. I've been a slave…and now I'm a slaver. And all of it for what!? Spices!? Fabrics!? Do you know how many people suffered and died for-for a crate of those things!? And I…had a part in it,"_

"But in the end, we both were consumed by our fear,"

"_These men, they will not stop to get what they want! Once they know of the dragons, they will come and take everything! And they won't ask nicely…" Varin said._

"But although we both feared the world, when it comes to our people, our fear was different. And at this point, our idea on what we should do diverged," Hiccup said. "Varin feared for our people. I feared of them, of what they could become,"

"_You can't hide forever Hiccup! They will come one day and the only way to stop them is to attack them! Prevention rather than cure!" _

"_I'll hide them for as long as I can! What you want to do will turn our people into the very people that you hate!"_

_Varin looked betrayed but he still didn't want to back down._

"_I'm doing this for our people!"_

"_Are you!? Or are you just doing this to redeem yourself from what they made you do, from what they turn you into!?"_

Elsa pursed her lips before asking again. "What do you mean?" Elsa already knew the answer, but she want and need to know from Hiccup himself.

Hiccup sighed. He was building his seventh snowman now. "Before I went exploring, the Vikings fought against dragons and each other,"

"At first, to me it was a normal thing. Low on food? We'd go raiding rival tribes," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a worried look.

"You could say that I was very fortunate that my clan was one of the nicest ones. We didn't raid unless it was truly necessary, we were rather receptive to the dragons and we didn't use them to conquer other tribes," Hiccup explained.

'Until he decided to become King,' Elsa thought and Hiccup shared the same sentiment.

"But when I came back with Varin, I finally saw the reality behind it," Hiccup said. "I remembered the day when our clan was raided instead,"

"They knew we had dragons so they chose to attack during a heavy blizzard where it was too dangerous to fly," Hiccup continued. "Most of the young members of our clan was kidnapped,"

"When we mounted a counterattack…we found out what happened to them, especially the girls…" Hiccup couldn't finish but Elsa had a nagging feeling she knew what happened.

"I-I'm sorry," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.

"Of course, that was the eye opener, so to speak. When we saw what happened to them and the other casualties from our tribes, we swore bloody revenge. At that time, all we saw was red," Hiccup continued.

"After it was done, the aftermath was horrible. And it was done by my clan, my people," Hiccup closed his eyes as he remembered that day.

_His friends was covered in blood and they were silent with their rage. Astrid's hair was red instead of his favourite golden. The twins didn't joke around. Snotlout didn't brag at all. _

_And his hands was red with blood. Hiccup turned to look at the bloodied body of one his kidnapped clan members. _

'_It could be Astrid,' he thought. 'It could be one of us,'_

'_But instead of becoming the victim, we became the monsters,' _

_It was at this point that Hiccup realized their innocence from their early days was gone._

_What they did and what the other tribes did to them was considered normal in the Viking's way of life._

_But was it right? _

"Isn't it strange?" Hiccup asked her with a smile. "I'm more worried about what could my people turn into, instead of what could happen to them,"

"_You're more afraid of what our people could become? Rather than what could happen to them? You're a fool!"_

Elsa was silent as she didn't think she could answer when the time comes for it. Would she rather her people die as humans or live as monsters?

"I saw the cruelty of the outside world and I see it in my people," Hiccup looked away. "And keeping them away from the world seemed like the best option,"

'Seemed?' Elsa thought and she realized, Hiccup was also looking for a way out.

"And that's the end of the shortest version of my story," Hiccup stopped building any more snowmen and looked at her again, this time with a sad smile.

"So…what do you think?" Hiccup asked and Elsa returned a small smile.

"I…would like to tell you my story as well. Unfortunately, it is the shortest version as well," Elsa said and Hiccup's smile grew a little bit.

"Fair enough," he shrugged.

"Well…you've already known that I was born with my…"

'Curse? Blessing?' Elsa thought.

"…powers," Elsa continued and Hiccup nodded. "My parents didn't allow me to use it outside of the castle and even then when indoors, I could only use it secretly. At first, I thought it was a wonderful thing to have. However, after an incident that involved the well being of my sister, I grew afraid it,"

"I was also afraid of the world and afraid of and for my people. I was afraid of harming them and afraid of being harm by them as well. You could guessed what their reactions were when my powers were accidently exposed," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.

"However," Elsa smiled. "My sister, my wonderful, courageous sister, Anna…she never feared me. Never gave up on me even after all the pain I've caused her. Never stopped believing in me, and showed me that I'm not alone,"

Hiccup was silent, waiting for her to continue. "I isolated myself for 13 years because of fear. Fear of the outside world, fear of myself, fear of trying something else and because of that, I've caused considerable pain to my family, lost precious time that could be spent with them and many more,"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Yes, 13 years," Elsa nodded with a smile.

"What I've learned was that fear...they won't go away by hiding. To be afraid was inevitable. To stay afraid, is by choice,"

"Children learn that there are no monsters hiding in their closet when they opened the closet doors for themselves," Elsa continued. "Hiding from the world won't make the fear go away,"

Hiccup looked away. "So I'm a coward then,"

Elsa leaned forward to touch his hand. This made Hiccup turned to look at her again.

Elsa shook her head. "You are brave and courageous. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. You must have been afraid when you decided to unite your people,"

Hiccup's eyes widened as he remembered the day he decided to become King.

_**...~...**_

_"Everyone," Hiccup addressed his whole tribe in front of him._

_The time was now. The moment of truth._

_Hiccup's hand was shaking with nervousness and fear. He tried to hide it by balling it into fists but it wasn't working._

_This was harder than telling his dad the truth about the dragons._

_Suddenly, he felt a warm hand holding his hand and he saw Astrid. She nodded at him with a soft smile._

_It didn't dispel the fear entirely, but it was enough. Hiccup returned the smile._

_"I don't want to become the Chief,"_

_Stoick groaned. "Not this again! Hiccup-"_

_"I want to become the King of every Viking!" Hiccup stated and everyone was quiet._

_"Are you joking?" Snotlout broke the silence. "You barely wanted to become Chief! Heck, you barely a Chief and now you wanted to become the Chief of all Chiefs?"_

_Hiccup stared at Snotlout and then turned his gaze on everyone who was silent. Years ago, they would laugh at him, but now…_

_"Yes. I want to be king not because I crave for power! Or just because I feel that I can! I want to be king so that we don't have to fight and hurt and kill each other anymore! I don't want to live in fear everyday knowing that we might be attacked by fellow Vikings. To be attacked and raided for what!? For food that we barely have enough for ourselves? For our meager resources? For our children and women!?_

_I don't want to live in fear knowing that I might not see the faces of the people that I care anymore when we are attacked!_

_We don't have to live this way! No more raiding other tribes when we can help each other! No more taking when we can give! No more unnecessary deaths and suffering!" Hiccup said with voice full of confidence._

_The crowd was still silent._

_"I know we could be stronger! I know we could be better! And I want better! From all of us, and for all of you! So, I ask you, my family, friends and people! Will you condemn yourself to this endless loop of pain and suffering!?_

_Or will you stand by my side and change the history of our people forever!?" Hiccup finished._

_The crowd roared with approval._

_**...~...**  
_

"You must have been afraid during your journey to become the King for your people,"

"_You can't win against me, Hiccup! Against us!" Varin gestured to the people behind him. "I have fought WARS. You?_

_You are afraid of the world and want to hide from it. We want to tame it! Can your peace loving people fight against us!?" Varin claimed._

_Hiccup felt fear creeping in his being at seeing the manic look on Varin's face and the bloodthirsty look on the enemy Vikings._

"And you're still afraid right now," Elsa said and Hiccup gave her a pained look.

"I am," Hiccup answered. "I still am because…I lost the source of my courage, the reason why I can be brave"

Tears began to gather in his eyes and Elsa understood.

'Astrid Hofferson,' Elsa thought and her heart pained as well for many reasons.

"But Hiccup, she can't be your only source of courage," Elsa said. "I…I used to think that Anna was my only courage…that if I lost her, then I would lose everything,"

"But that isn't true. I have many reason to be brave. I have to be brave for my people, for my friends and for what I believe in," Elsa said and she wiped Hiccup's tears away.

"Please Hiccup, remember why you are brave. Please…remember what is more important to you than your fears. Please remember that you are not alone, that many people want to see you to be brave again. You were brave before. Please do so again. Please…be braver," the Snow Queen smiled and she hugged the Viking King.

"I…I," Hiccup tried to find words to say but failed.

Elsa tightened her hug and it wasn't long until Hiccup hugged her back. Hiccup then felt Elsa began to slowly stroke his hair.

The comforting gesture calmed him and Hiccup closed his eyes to remember why, he was brave enough to do what he did.

_**...~...**_

_"Hiccup, why did you want to do this?" a voice on his chest asked as he was counting the stars._

_"Hm? Watching the stars? Well, it is romantic and relaxing and-" Hiccup answered and he received a slap on his chest in response._

_"Not this, silly!"_

_Hiccup chuckled. "Alright, then what it is?"_

_"Why do you want to be King?" Astrid asked and Hiccup was silent for a while._

_"I'm afraid," Hiccup started. "I'm afraid of losing you, my family, my friends, the people that I care about,"_

_"And yet you risk losing us with this plan of yours," Astrid stated and Hiccup bit his lip. Sensing his silence, Astrid brought his face close to Hiccup's._

_"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Astrid apologized._

_"No-no, you're right," Hiccup said and looked away, the logic of it hurt him._

_"And you're also right!" Astrid grabbed Hiccup's face to look at him again._

_"I know…but it's hard," Hiccup said and Astrid smiled._

_"The right thing to do is always the hardest," Astrid smiled and she leaned in. "And good things never come easy,"_

_They both shared a kiss that wasn't filled with passion or lust, but of innocence and love._

_Astrid broke the kiss and Hiccup smiled._

_"I agree, completely," Hiccup sighed before continuing. "Thank you Astrid, for being with me. I wouldn't know what I would do without you,"_

_"You'd be a wreck," Astrid teased and Hiccup gave her a soft smile._

_"Yeah, yeah I would," Hiccup replied and Astrid gave him a worried look._

_"What did I do to deserve you Astrid," Hiccup tried to cup her cheek but Astrid bat his hand away._

_"Don't say that Hiccup!" Astrid said and rose to her feet._

_"What? Why? What's wrong?" Hiccup rose to his feet but Astrid turned her back on him._

_"If anything…I don't deserve you," Astrid uncharacteristically said and hugged her arms._

_"Whaaaaaaat? Where did this come from?"_

_Astrid was silent for a moment until she heard Hiccup closing in._

_"Do you remember the day when I found out about your secret?" Astrid asked._

_"...yeah? Why?"_

_"What were you doing before I stopped you? What did you want to do if I didn't come?" Astrid asked again._

_"I…I," Hiccup remembered. "I wanted to run away, to leave Berk forever,"_

_"You see Hiccup!?" Astrid turned around to face him and Hiccup could see sadness on her face. "You were willing to leave everything behind! At first, I didn't thought of it. But when you were unconscious after your fight with the Red Death…it occurred to me…"_

_"Nobody in the village understood you. You were an outcast. Your father didn't know what to do with you that he stopped trying. Gobber tried with his own way…the kids treated you like dirt. I treated you like dirt!" tears were pooling in her eyes._

_"Astrid…" Hiccup tried to reach her but Astrid backed away._

_"And the only friend that understood you that time was a dragon! If I wasn't there…if I wasn't so selfish…if I tried to understand…" tears slid down her cheeks and Hiccup lunged at her, giving her no chance to refuse him._

_"Hey, hey…come on…you did nothing wrong," Hiccup tried to console her._

_"Of course you would think that. You're so self-depreciating that you'd think everything is your fault!" Astrid replied._

_"Eh…couldn't argue with that," Hiccup shrugged and Astrid giggled._

_"Idiot," Astrid stopped crying and pushed away from him softly. "You could have just let me go back then…but instead you chase after me. You could have just leave after our flight, but you came back. Why?"_

_"Well, to be honest, Toothless was the one that wanted to chase after you," Hiccup grinned and Astrid punched his shoulder._

_"Alright, alright. Well, at that time, I had nothing to lose anyway so why not try to convince you? And when it worked, when you were convinced, I knew I had chance with everyone else," Hiccup explained._

_"And…when we were having our flight together, you, Toothless and I were so happy. It showed that we don't have to kill dragons to be happy. And then we met that Red Death, I knew that I couldn't just ran away alone and let the dragons and the people that I care about to suffer alone,"_

_Astrid shook her head with a smile. "You see Hiccup? If anything, we don't deserve you. Any other person that was in your boots would just leave, but you didn't. And after all we have done to you, you just…forgive so easily,"_

_"Well, I almost forgot about it too but thanks anyway for bringing that up," Hiccup grinned and Astrid punch his shoulder again._

_"Okay, okay!" Hiccup chuckled. "I mean sure, I could ask for retribution and all that but I when I woke up seeing the happy atmosphere, I just…well, I don't want to ruin it just because I deserved to be selfish," Hiccup said._

_Astrid smiled again and hugged his chest. "Gods, Hiccup, you are a piece of work; do you know that? You are the softest and most sensitive Viking alive,"_

_Hiccup pouted._

_"But because of that, it makes you the bravest and strongest Viking alive,"_

_"You forgot the smartest," Hiccup added._

_"And also that," Astrid giggled and nuzzled Hiccup's neck, making him growl. The sound and vibration excited her but she wasn't finished._

_Astrid turned to look at Hiccup._

_"Hiccup, you're stronger and braver than what you think, than what you give yourself credit for. Your strength and courage…is more than just me," Astrid said and Hiccup gave her a worried look._

_"Ast-"_

_Astrid placed a finger on his lips._

_"Hiccup, there are times when you will be afraid, and it's okay. I get afraid too. And sometimes, it's alright to be afraid. It makes you realize what's important. After all, if you weren't afraid, Toothless wouldn't be alive, right?" Astrid said and Hiccup smiled. Astrid then took Hiccup's hands into hers._

_"But, you can't be afraid forever. You will have to be brave for me and for everyone that's afraid," Astrid continued. "Do you see what you accomplished when you were brave? You get to ride dragons and get a shot to be the king,"_

_Hiccup chuckled._

_"Promise me Hiccup, that you'll never stop being you," Astrid asked and Hiccup gave her a soft smile._

_"You'll have to give me a guideline on how to be me, because you know about me more than I do," Hiccup said and Astrid giggled._

_"Hopeless romantic," Astrid sighed. "What makes Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third? Well, it's hard to describe him,"_

_Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"_

_"Hmm...to start...you're a coward, yet it makes you braver. You're an optimistic but sometimes, you can be such a pessimist that it's annoying. You're stubborn and yet…"_

_Hiccup grinned._

_"You operate on logic and yet you're illogical. You see everything differently and yet…you didn't see at all,"_

_"That…I don't know what to make of it," Hiccup scratched the back of his head._

_Astrid smiled. "I told you that you're a piece of work,"_

_"But what I do know about you that is absolute is that you never gave up. You never gave up on what you believe in. You never gave up on us. You never gave up believing in people, in their kindness and their potential,"_

_Astrid's smile turned sad. "Hiccup, I know that the world and our people scare you…but please, never give up on them. They are not as bad as you think,"_

_Hiccup gave her a sad look. "How would you know?" Astrid didn't follow him during his travels, so she didn't experience it._

_Astrid gave him a happy smile. "Because I believe. I believe that there are good people out there that's worth to be brave for. That is what I learn from you,"_

**...~...**

Hiccup's mind then returned to the present and he smiled at the rare positive memory he had been able to remember about Astrid.

'Astrid was right…but it's hard to do. I can't just suddenly decide to be brave...' Hiccup thought.

"_I have many reason to be brave. I have to be brave for my people, for my friends and for what I believe in,"_

'Everyone...for what I believe in,' Hiccup mused.

_**...~...**_

_"Sigurd, thanks for saving my ass back there," Hiccup said as he brought two tankards of mead._

_Sigurd smiled. "That is my job after all,"_

_Hiccup shrugged with a smile. "And you're doing great at it,"_

_Hiccup handed Sigurd a tankard and The Viking gratefully accepted it. They both drank in silence for a while before Hiccup decided break the silence._

_"So…can I ask you a question?" Hiccup asked and Sigurd shrugged. "Why fight for me? Your whole tribe was against me but yet you…you turned to me in an instant,"_

_Sigurd grinned. "Doubting my loyalty, my Liege?"_

_Hiccup returned the grin. "No. It's just that you're more than you look. Can you blame me for being curious?"_

_Sigurd shrugged before he sighed. "Well…to start…" Sigurd swirled the contents of his tankard. "I'm a weak coward,"_

_Hiccup spit his drink. "Whaaaaat? You? Ridiculous!"_

_Sigurd laughed. "No, it's true. In battle, I'm not weak and not a coward, but outside?" Sigurd shook his head._

_"I hated raids because…" Sigurd hesitated._

_Hiccup patted his back. "I understand,"_

_Sigurd smiled sadly. "My mother escaped after I was born the second she had the chance. She didn't even bring me with her and because of that, growing up was not easy. My old man was a good fighter and a good teacher, but not a good father. And you've seen my tribe,"_

_Hiccup nodded._

_"They're bloodthirsty and never afraid. We are after all, known as the bravest tribe around. Anyway, I grew up bigger and stronger than most of them but none of them were afraid of me. And they'll take every chance they could to prove it to me and to the others. Because of this, I...was afraid of them," Sigurd continued._

_"And believe it or not, they could sense the fear in you. And they sensed it in me. Because of this, I was…bullied," Sigurd looked ashamed at that._

_"Hey, I've been through the same," Hiccup assured and Sigurd nodded._

_"I know. But I heard that you never stopped standing up to them," Sigurd said. "I never did until I met you. All of my life I was forced to do things to 'built up courage' so to speak. Things that I wasn't comfortable with,"_

_Sigurd chuckled darkly. "I hated raids, correct? But I never said it to them. There was this one raid, when we attacked my mother's tribe. Do you know what I found? My mother with her new family. She had two children and...they were happy..."_

_Hiccup's eyes widened. What should he say?_

_"My father was with me at that time and he brutally beat her husband to death. Then he told me to kill my mother and her children myself,"_

_Hiccup stayed silent._

_"As much as I hate her for leaving me and for being selfish and no matter how angry I was at that time, I still didn't want to do it. It was wrong. No matter what her sins to me, she's still my mother. And my step-brothers and sisters…they're innocent!"_

_"But I couldn't say no to my father. I was afraid of him and my tribe more than anything. My mother and…her children begged me not to do it, but I…" Sigurd said and he looked away._

_"And the funny thing is, my father still deemed me as weak and nothing changed," Sigurd continued. "Until you came,"_

_"When you announced your plan, my whole tribe laughed and mocked you. They knew you were afraid and I can see it as well. But you pushed on with your belief and it makes me want to believe in it as well,"_

_"Remember what you told me when we fought?" Sigurd asked._

_Hiccup smiled. "The one that I barely won?"_

_Sigurd returned the smile. "Yeah. You told me that you're afraid and you can't do it alone. You ask me to be brave for you so that when you're scared, I can be your courage,"_

_Hiccup laughed. "I hope I didn't lead you on. I mean, I'm already engaged!"_

_Sigurd rolled his eyes. "No you're not," He then sighed in relief. "You're weird. All of my life, I was surrounded by men that doesn't know fear. I never had someone to be brave for,"_

_Hiccup smiled. "Well, if you can be brave for me, then I'll be brave for you as well,"_

_Sigurd returned the smile and he gestured for a toast. Hiccup noticed and slammed his tankard with Sigurd's. "And thank you, for believing that I could be more,"_

_**...~...**_

Hiccup sighed as he finally understood what his fear had made him do.

His fear made him stop believing in the world, made him stop believing that there are people worth to be brave for.

His fear made him stop believing in his people, just like how an over-protective father that doesn't believe in his children's ability to face the world.

His fear made him blind to the fear of others as well.

"_Hiccup, being a leader is not easy. You have to make tough decisions that not everyone can do. You have to bear responsibilities that would make lesser man fall. But you must also know that you reflect your people. _

_If you want to change them, you yourself have to be the change. If you are kind and with good beliefs, then I believe they will be as well," Stoick advised._

'And if I'm afraid, they will be as well,' Hiccup thought.

His friends must have been afraid just as much, if not, more than him.

"_But, you can't be afraid forever. You will have to be brave for me and for everyone that's afraid,"_

Hiccup smiled.

He has been afraid long enough.

For his people, for what he believed in and for those that has fallen for him, he would be brave and belief again.

It was time for him to brave the world again.

* * *

**Author's Note: **For those that wondered why the title start off with III instead of I, well, it is continued from the movie. In the movie, to me there are two instances of a frozen heart being thawed. The first is when Anna was thawed when she got frozen, and the second is when Elsa realized that love thaws.

So yeah.

Oh and the sappy works is over! Next chapters will be all fluffy stuff! So look forward to it!


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